A love letter to Antwerp: the good, the bad, the skaters in the sun and the young students chasing dreams like stars at the Royal Academy where Dries van Noten studied back in the day. The member of the Antwerp 6 collective is exploring a post-lockdown urban reality within clothing, in all its colours, shapes and variations.
“Lockdown was hard on all of us and especially when I started to design this collection with my team as it was very restrictive and frustrating. We all yearned for a time when our lives were more free. We found ourselves almost bursting out and going through photos on our phones, needing to relive memories of moments when life was carefree and sociability possible”, says Dries van Noten, the brand’s creative director.
Looking through the photos, mindlessly scrolling through the memories immortalized in the camera roll birthed the idea – “bringing those incredible moments back to life whilst wearing them”, he states.
Due to his devoted love for Antwerp, it seemed only logical to dedicate this collection to his city as a visual love letter. This collection allows the viewer to see the city through the exclusive angle of the “eyes and photographs of international residents of the city and members of his design team”.
Explore Antwerp in a new, celebratory way through the images.
Dries van Noten Mens SS22. Image courtesy of Dries van Noten.