When many people think of Antwerp, they think of the Antwerp 6: Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs, and Marina Yee. They are the 6 graduates of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, who together went to London in 1988 in a rented truck and showed their collections, establishing Antwerp as a notable location for avant-garde fashion. Since the Antwerp 6, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts has produced many other famous alums such as Martin Margiela, A.F. Vandevorst, Haider Ackermann, and Kris Van Assche.

I attended the fashion show Saturday evening, June 9th.  For the show, I knew it was casual, so I went with the equestrian look.

 

 

The show was held at Hangar 29, a huge industrial space located on the Scheldt River.

 

 

Inside were two large spaces, the reception area with drinks and the actual room for the show.

 

 

Walter Van Beirendonck is now the head of the fashion department at the Academy. This year the jury included Raf Simons, the creative director at Dior, Lucas Ossendrijver, designer at Lanvin Men, Nicholas Kirkwood, shoe designer, Olivier Rizzo, stylist, and Willy Vanderperre, photographer, amongst other notable figures in the fashion industry.

 

 

The show was organized by school year, so the 1st year began and the 4th year ended with their Master Collections. Sofie’s brother Thomas is a 1st year student at the Academy and he designed (and created!) the most beautiful dress!

 

 

All of the presentations were great and creative, but my favorites were from the 3rd and 4th year collections.

 

3rd Year Collections

Lola Barré “09:00 TO 18:00”

This collection was sleek and clean, yet still feminine and sweet.

 

Yong-Soon Kwon “LISTEN TO ME”

Very romantic with beautiful, flowing silhouettes.

 

 

 

Umit Esbulan “C.R.E.A.M. – TEAM”

This collection is really fun and graphic.

 

 

Polina Stepanova “WORLD’S A MARKET PLACET HAT WE VISIT-MASK”

Modern, feminine, cool.

 

4th Year Master Collections

Charlotte Pringels “KNOTWORK”

Great colors and interesting knotted silhouettes.  I also think the name is funny “KNOTWORK” or  “NOT WORK”?

 

Miquel Boutens “PAINTING AN INVISIBLE MOON”

Whimsical and boyish.

 

Jon Sofferud “AS THOUGH THE EARTH HAD OPENED, AND THE SKIES SPLIT”

Like the above collection, still whimsical but urban.

 

Anissa Aouar “A SUPER DRUNK HERO”

This collection looks like it came out of a comic book. I love the shoulders and collars.

 

Rey Benedict Pador “…ONE MORE TRY…”

The mouthpieces scared me a little haha.

 

 

Manon Kündig “BOWERBIRD”

This collection won all of the awards related to creativity.

 

 

Marius Janusauskas “SLEEPING BEAUTIES”

My personal favorite! This collection also won a lot of awards.

 

At the end of the show, all of the models came down the runway dancing!

 

If you want to see the show for yourself, more backstage photos, or just more information in general, you can visit the fashion department’s website www.antwerp-fashion.be