During the fifth Lockdown in Belgium, Dries Van Noten developed his new Spring 2022 collection. Van Noten and his team longed for freedom while creating the collection. They wanted to express fun, to party, to enjoy life again, and see the city filled with people. The team felt cooped up in their studio when that’s where they should be expressing their creativity. As a tribute to the city of Antwerp itself, the team started scouring their phones for pre-lockdown photos. This selection ranged from old dirty cafes to club shots, crane landscapes to postcard photos of the city’s buildings. Together with an old logo of the city of Antwerp, these images became the stunning prints of the collection as collages. Dries conveys a great longing for freedom that ran through the entire creation process. Feather-light silk suits, puffy shirts, and extremely large silhouettes invite you to move. A feeling of well-being is exuded, positive energy, and simply a good mood.
The designer wanted to turn away from the conceptual design and development of a collection and simply create, combine and bring clothes to life. For the shoot and the video shoot, the models moved through the public of Antwerp. It was shot at everyday locations in the city. As a result, many people watched and commented. There was everything from amazement and incomprehension to acceptance among the spectators. Not everyone understood the designs. Since the beginning of the global pandemic, Dries van Noten has been hoping for a change in fashion as we know it. He wants to create a distance to the classic catwalk. Starting with the fact that the designer no longer wants to make men’s and women’s wear, but mixed shows that reflect the freedom of his work. It is also unclear whether there will be a return to a classic catwalk presentation, as Dries had great fun producing this collection. In the future, there will probably be a rotation of video presentations, installations, and catwalk. With so much change called for, the future can only be exciting and we are looking forward to it.