ARRESTED FOR ANKLES

To be arrested for showing your ankles on a beach sounds absurd. Yet in 1907, Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman was arrested on Revere Beach in Boston for wearing a one-piece swimsuit that revealed her arms, legs and neck. At the time, women were expected to enter the water in heavy, layered bathing dresses designed more for modesty than movement. Beaches were patrolled, hemlines were measured, and ‘’indecency’’ was a punishable offence. For the accused women, a nice day by the sea could quickly turn into a public spectacle of shame. No matter how absurd it may seem today, it should not be forgotten that not too long ago, the shoreline was a courtroom, and the female body its most contested evidence. In conversation with Nina van Stoltz, a recent graduate of AMFI Amsterdam, we stepped back onto the shoreline, not to revive it, but to unravel it. Her graduation collection “Arrested for Ankles" dives headfirst into the charged and often ignored history of swimwear, exploring restriction through fully knitted garments.

The judgement and control towards women’s bodies in the 1900’s, down to how much skin they were allowed to show seems extreme, however the same desire for control over the female figure has persisted through the years. This phenomenon is known as ‘Body politics’ and is the main inspiration for this collection. As women, we found ourselves connecting over something deeply personal yet widely shared, the simple desire to move through the world, without feeling watched, judged or measured. I found that the tension between visibility and control in her work is its most compelling expression. Many of the garments are fully covering, referring to the modest silhouettes of early swimwear, yet they subvert that history through material and technique. Using a combination of tightly structured elastic yarns and more open knit constructions, Nina creates pieces that simultaneously conceal and reveal. Transparent layers emerge through so-called “laddering” techniques, where loops open to expose glimpses of skin beneath. The result is a visual contradiction: garments that appear conservative at first, yet quietly disrupt the very idea of modesty. Furthermore the elastic yarns stretch and adapt, allowing the pieces to follow the body rather than force it into shape. The yarns hold, stretch and respond, offering a sense of security. It is clothing that does not discipline the body, but listens to it.

In this way, the body is no longer something to be corrected or hidden, but something to be framed, supported and emphasised.

This dialogue extends beyond garments. Accessories, particularly the circular knitted bags, inspired by weighted hems once sewn into bathing costumes to keep them in place. The circular pattern becomes both functional and symbolic. It speaks of containment, repetition and the cyclical nature of fashion and societal control, while the material itself resists, expanding and reshaping depending on use. Through this symbolism Nina reminds us that there was no single moment of liberation for the female body, but rather a cyclical transformation of the same system. “ We think we are free”, she suggests, “ but there is always a condition”. The idea of choice, especially of how much of the body to reveal, remains entangled in a web of cultural and social norms . What appears as freedom is often just a more subtle negotiation with what is deemed acceptable. 

This never-ending longing for ease is exactly what Arrested for Ankles offers, not only as a bold statement reclaiming the history of restriction, but through the quiet practicality of knitwear itself. What makes the collection resonate beyond its historical references is the way it confronts a more uncomfortable truth: that control over women’s bodies never really disappeared. Where once rules were enforced through law and public punishment, they are now internalised through imagery, trends and expectations. 

Words Enna Elenova

Images Sofieke Smit

Date 10/04/2026