WIM BRUYNOOGHE – BACKSTAGE SHOW 2013 ANTWERP FASHION DEPARTMENT.
PHOTO: BOY KORTEKAAS.
What do prominent designers Martin Margiela, Kris Van Assche, Dries Van Noten, and Haider Ackermann all have in common? They studied at Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, currently celebrating the 50-year anniversary of its Fashion Department.
In celebration, September 8th, at the MoMu museum in Antwerp, the reputed Academy will dedicate an exhibition to the success story of fashion design “Made in Antwerp”, including the graduate works of prominent designers and brand-new alumni. The exhibition is part of the 350th anniversary of the Academy and highlights the department’s dedication to creating unique artistic signatures as well as the careers of designers who have left—and continue to leave—a mark on the industry.
The MoMu will feature archived works of noteworthy fashion designers, including Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Walter Van Beirendonck (who is also the Fashion Department’s director), Marina Yee, and Dirk Bikkembergs—known as the “Antwerp Six” collective. Other famed designers and former Academy teachers to be featured include Martin Margiela, Kris Van Assche, Veronique Branquinho, A.F. Vandevorst, Stephan Schneider, Bernhard Willhelm, Christian Wijnants, Bruno Pieters, Peter Pilotto, and Kris Van Assche. Middle Eastern alumni, such as Palestinian jewelry and object designer, Nedda El-Asmar, will also be present.
SKIRT STUDY: LINDA WIESNER. 1ST BACHELOR 2009.
PHOTO: RONALD STOOPS KOPIE.
In a conversation with Style.com/Arabia, Karen Van Godtsenhoven, MoMu’s exhibition curator, explained that the exhibition is not only about fashionable name-dropping as the graduation projects of unknown-yet-worth-seeing alumni are highlighted as well. “Some of the designers are famous, some of them aren’t—fame wasn’t a selection criterion at all. We show the most iconic designs of the ‘Antwerp Six’ but we also showcase the best of archived collections from the past 50 years, and works from newly graduated fashion students. We also plan to exhibit many drawings. As the Fashion Department originally grew out of the Graphic Design department, it is really important for us to show that fashion illustration plays a major role in the creation of a designer’s signature style.”
According to Van Godtsenhoven, the festivities also go beyond the walls of Belgium’s reputed fashion museum. “On top of the exhibition, we’ve planned an installation entitled Antwerp Icons—twelve large format photo-installations shot by Ronald Stoops and styled by Dirk Van Saene that will showcase the iconic designs of some of Antwerp’s most reputed fashion designers.”
Follow the program on the museum’s website and have a sneak peek of the exhibition set-up via the Academy’s Instagram account.
From September 8th until February 16th, 2014.
