FASHION CAPITAL

ANTWERPEN(BELGIUM)
About Antwerpen
Antwerp (Antwerpen in Dutch) is a rising fashion city, located in Northern
Belgium. Antwerp remains active throughout the year with fashion, music,
film, and art festivals. There is not a single month when there is no large
scale event being held in Antwerp city. Fashion shows are a regular feature
of this city. Many internationally acclaimed fashion designers have their
boutiques from where you might buy dress materials of your choice. The city
has a cult status in the fashion world due to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts,
one of the most important fashion academies in Europe. It has served as the
learning centre for a large number of Belgian fashion designers. Since the
1980s, several graduates of the Belgian Royal Academy of Fine Arts have
become internationally successful fashion designers in Antwerp. The most
famous designers in Antwerp are a group of six designers known as the
‘Antwerp Six’.

Fashion and the ‘Antwerp Six’

An established part of the international fashion scene, Antwerp’s reputation
today is closely tied to the impact of the so-called ‘Antwerp Six’. This group
of talented designers, graduates of the Antwerp Academy from the years
1980 and 1981, brought the world’s attention to the inventive styles and
impeccable craftsmanship of Belgium’s fashion industry. Trained by designer
Linda Loppa, the original ‘Six’ are Dries Van Noten, Dirk Bikkembergs, Dirk
Van Saene, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck and Marina Yee
(replacing the almost reclusive Martin Margiela after his brief association
with the group). Together, they staged fashion shows and events throughout
the mid-80s. Their attempts to capture the attention of the international
press and buyers famously included their unprecedented success at the
1988 London Fashion Week. It was this surprising event that placed Antwerp
firmly on the map of the international fashion scene.

Despite their shared background in the fashion department of Antwerp’s

Royal Academy, the styles of the six designers are distinctly varied. Whilst
Van Noten’s scarves of exotic fabrics, beaded saris and dyed skirts are
inspired by the traditional practices of countries such as India, Morocco and
Egypt, Van Beirendonck’s bold graphics and daring designs are rooted in a
futuristic concept of fashion that is both theatrical and challenging.
It is notable that the ‘Antwerp Six’ have largely chosen to remain in their
hometown. Together with the next wave of innovative designers from the
city’s Royal Academy, their work is located in Antwerp’s south and city
centre rather than in the fashion scenes of Paris and New York. Anne
Demeulemeester’s first freestanding boutique is found on the corner of
Leopold de Waelplats, opposite the Museum of Fine Arts. It is a stark white
shopping space in which mannequins are suspended from the ceiling on
steel cables. Linking the city centre and the south, the Nationalestraat
houses the his-and-her collections of Dries Van Noten, the designs of Dirk
Van Saene, Bernhard Willhelm and Kostas Murkudis, and the avant-garde
fashion of Mici de Merode. The up-and-coming designers Stephan Scneider
and Anna Heylen are also within walking distance, at Reyndersstraat 53 and
Lombardenvest 44 respectively.

The striking reputation of the ‘Antwerp Six’ is pivotal to the attention

received each year by the graduation show of the fashion department of the
Royal Academy. Held each year in June, the city welcomes a flock of
international reporters, magazine editors and photographers expecting to
find promising new talent. For many in the fashion world, Antwerp has
become a strong rival to Brussels as Belgium’s capital city.

Even the very first pieces of work produced by Fashion

Academy students are worthy of being museum pieces...
Momu-ModeMuseum

Antwerp-fashion museum is a pleasure to

visit. The interior of the historical ModeNatie building is
very organic with lots of wood and light. The MOMU,
Open since 2002 in Antwerp-fashion quarter, is the
new, trendy fashion museum housing contemporary
fashion and historical collections.

The MOMU has no permanent collection – only changing

exhibitions usually creations of temporary fashion
designers, especially those who took courses in the
Royal Academy of Art in Antwerp. The exhibitions are
very dynamic, creative and

intuitive using various media. MoMu has already gained international fame
for the beautiful,

new way of making successful exhibitions.

A small gallery on the first floor houses the work of 3rd year students of the
Antwerp-fashion Academy (Royal Academy of Art and FFI / Flanders Fashion
Institute), which focuses on the history of costumes, fashion and textile
mainly within the boundaries of Western Europe. The main topics are:
"textile raw material and fibers, textile techniques, textile industry, textile
print and dye, lace, embroidery and other fancywork, historic costumes and
fashion.”

Shopping in Antwerp

Shopping in Antwerp means wandering around the streets, past historic

houses and beautiful shopping centers. The shopping zones in Antwerp are
not saturated and city has fairly dozens of artistic designer shops and stores.
Antwerp's fashion life is regularly featured in the glossy magazines. At the
MoMu or Fashion Museum, you can predict how the fashion has strutted
through the years in this fabulous City. Academy Fashion Show is held in the
fashion section of Royal Academy of Fine Arts, which is one of the best in the
world. Fashion equals shopping and for a Die-hard Shopper, Antwerp has a
lot to offer. The best shops in Antwerp can be found in the Meir Street.

Some major shopping areas in Antwerp

MODENATIE: The neighborhood around the ModeNatie that has been known
as ‘the heart of Belgian fashion since Dries Van Noten opened his Modepaleis
in the Nationalestraat. Meanwhile, various designers and stores pursuing an
avant-garde profile have settled down here. The Kammenstraat, a side-street
of the Nationalestraat, is the place to be when you are looking for stores that
offer the latest streetwear collections.

THE SOUTH: For several years the South (Het Zuid) has been described
as the most trendy district of Antwerp. In the museum district – on walking
distance of the ModeNatie – you find numerous special restaurants, bars,
galleries and design-stores, stores offering vintage and antique and concept
stores. Even the store of Ann Demeulemeester is located in this area. The
return route leads you through the Kloosterstraat, a street where fashion,
second-hand and vintage stores are happily rubbing shoulders.
MEIR & LEIEN: The ‘Meir’ is the most important commercial shopping street
of Antwerp and houses most international clothing and shoe labels. This
large street dominates the fourth route. For a couple of years now, the 'Meir'
is given an extra refined touch with te renewed and glorious ‘stadsfeestzaal’
(the city reception hall).

WILDE ZEE & QUARTIER LATIN: The area around the Schuttershofstraat
is known to the Antwerp citizens as the ‘Quartier Latin’. This neighborhood is
dominated mainly by international luxury brands. At the ‘Wilde Zee’, located
in and around the Lombardenvest, the first Belgian designers were sold in
the eighties.