Photo © Maxime Ballesteros
Our road trip with mb! magazine was about finding Europe’s most exciting, young fashion talents and that naturally meant we were going to stop off in Antwerp – Belgium’s culture capital. Antwerp has fairly earned its reputation as Europe’s new fashion capital with more than a handful of game-changers players having had graduated from the city’s Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts.
Antwerp, a city marked by Gothic spires and ancient wharfs, shouldn’t just be reduced to its history of the esteemed Antwerp Six (and subsequent talents like Raf Simons and Kris Van Assche). That would be to ignore the visionaries and trendsetters who graduate every year and keep the city’s reputation as Europe’s fashion capital alive.
This year the fashion school turned 50 and so, for this occasion, the original Antwerp Six were invited to act as juries to the graduate show. The runway, shaped like a lightning bolt, was graced with extraordinary talent: there was Devon Halfnight LeFlufy’s super fresh “True Believer” collection which featured intricate laser cut techniques and jackets covered in grotesque, neon green faces an ode to celebrity worship. Also, Alice Dupraz-Toulouse offered an original interpretation of female combat and warrior gear: pink khaki prints, checkered camouflage and military cut-out jackets paired with flowery harem pants. Meanwhile, Pierre Renaux’s “Liquidation Totale” collection – in which corporate fashion turns conceptual – and Wim Bruynooghe’s theatrical collection of rubber and illustration, really caught our attention. So off we went to meet them.
Read more about Sleek’s trip from Berlin to London via Amsterdam and Antwerp in the next issue of Sleek, publishing next month. Find out more information on The Search at mb! by Mercedes-Benz.