Ronald van der Kemp (born 24 September 1964 in Wijchen, Netherlands^[1]) is a Dutch fashion designer and founder of demi-couture fashion house RVDK Ronald van der Kemp,^[2] his namesake label.

Early career

Van der Kemp graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy of Art and Design in Amsterdam in 1989 with a BA in fashion design.^[3] His early career took him to major fashion cities Paris, Milan and New York, working as creative director, consultant and chief designer for brands including Bill Blass,^[4] Barneys New York and Guy Laroche, where he succeeded Elbar Albaz.^[5] He also worked at Celine.^[6] It was in these years as a consultant that van der Kemp honed his technical expertise.^[7]

Own label

In August 2014 van der Kemp launched his demi-couture label, RVDK Ronald van der Kemp, presenting his first ‘wardrobe’ during the Paris haute couture calendar in 2015.^[8] Shunning the fashion system’s way of doing things, van der Kemp’s proposed ‘wardrobe’ consisted of a selection of limited-edition items that were seasonless and timeless, ethically made with existing fabrics,^[9] and crafted by hand in small ateliers in Amsterdam.^[10]

Net-a-Porter, the luxury ecommerce group, was the first retailer to buy van der Kemp’s demi-couture collection,^[11] which has since been worn by celebrities including Selena Gomez,^{[citation needed]} Kate Moss,^[12] Lady Gaga,^[13] Katy Perry, Dakota Johnson, Adriana Lima^[14] and Karlie Kloss.