NENE is a design studio founded by Cheyenne Nelson in 2018. Cheyenne Nelson (*1983, Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a textile, fashion, and product designer from Rotterdam. Her process begins with making sketches by using pencils, ink or watercolour and then transforming that work digitally into patterns and designs. Her work is often described as a graphic clean style combined with hand-drawn and/or painted elements that make it interesting and distinctive. Besides designing artworks for commercial brands she also works with smaller brands and invests time in several self-initiated projects.
After visiting an exhibition about the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism in 2003 at the Wereldmuseum Rotterdam, discovering more about her identity and cultural background became personal and professional quest. In 2011, she graduated from the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences for Communication and Multimedia Design, Experience Branding. Her thesis describes how the intangible and material cultural heritage of Afro-Surinamese could be preserved on a digital platform. Five years later, she created her first fashion collection at the Artemis Academy. The NENE | Feltblend collection was inspired by the silhouette of the kotomisi (traditional Afro-Surinamese costume), tembe (wood carvings), and the pangi of the Surinamese Maroons combined with felt. This is where her passion for creating more designs started to grow.
Her first assignment was as an assistant textile designer for Simone Post's Post-Vlisco rugs. She subsequently worked as an artwork designer for The Sting (women's collection) and Sissy-Boy (women's clothing and Homeland), before officially founding her Studio in 2018.
After winning an open call initiated by the Klederdracht Museum Amsterdam and the Koto Museum, the modern koto 'Kon Na Wan' created a new chapter. She then made children's koto for Roline Redmond which were worn in the promotional film for her book, 'The Doorsons, In search of an African-American slave family in the Caribbean'. And was asked to design an angisa (traditional Afro-Surinamese headscarves) for Imagine IC and Tailors & Wearers.
To broaden her knowledge of crafts that can enrich her work, she has volunteered several times for various places such as Ja-Wol, the Temporary Fashion Museum of the Nieuwe Instituut, and as a connector/felt maker at De Viltmannen. She has also taken courses in loom weaving, natural dyeing, pattern making, fashion and sewing techniques at Invalid Naaiatelier. Learning these new skills have made it possible to combine her continuous research about the Afro-Surinamese culture, getting closer to know herself, while exploring her passion and expressing this in her creations.
Her work has been exhibited in Het Klederdrachtmuseum Amsterdam, Wereldmuseum Rotterdam, Amsterdam x Museum, Wereldmuseum Amsterdam and Dutch Design Week.