![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/eran_shanny_aca14_0038.jpg\")
Eran Shanny. Photo: Catwalkpictures.com<\/p>\n Eran Shanny. Photo: Catwalkpictures.com<\/p>\n
One of the most anticipated shows on the graduations calendar is indubitably that of the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp. The preeminent Alma Mater of the Antwerp Six, the academy consistently bequeaths us with ingenious industry heavyweights coming from the design department headed by Walter van Beirendonck. Besides the famed alumni sitting in the audience, it\u2019s no secret that talent scouts and agencies attend the show as well.<\/p>\n
Though deeply impressed by the many excellent visions presented by Bachelor students, it makes sense to focus on the graduates of the Masters programme moments before they enter the industry. This year, eight of the Master students opted for womenswear collections and two for menswear, though a tendency towards obliterating the gender-specificity of the designs in favour of more transgressive approach was visible across the collections, whereas others took a critical approach to (tragic) fates associated with traditional gender roles. Other themes ranged from teleportation and data sequencing, as in the nylon and leather creations by Flora Seierl, to history and memory, as demonstrated in the intertwining geometric patterns on the collection by Madeleine Coisne, and a fusion of music and architecture in a colourful collection by Raffaela Graspointner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two standout graduates were\u00a0 Clara Jungman Malmquist, who did a womenswear collection, and Eran Shanny with his androgynous take on menswear. Jungman Malmquist layered all garments with inverted appliqu\u00e9 techniques, cut-outs, and tulle, creating an original visual statement somewhere between op-art and Indian Mola quilts. Eran Shanny clearly has had some experience in the preforming arts: his uniquely authentic menswear collection emits the theatrical sensibilities of someone with a deep understanding of what it means to don personas via garments, and his solid grasp of the body in motion and the movement of fabrics evince the spatial comprehension of a trained dancer. It\u2019s not hard to imagine a Diamond Dogs-era Bowie circa \u201874 performing in one of Shanny\u2019s ultra wide pants and heart-patched top combos.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/clara_jungman_malmquist_aca14_0036.jpg\")
Clara Jungman Malmquist. Photo: Catwalkpictures.com<\/p>\n
Emmanuel Beguinot created a collection based on a novel about a girl who is raised as a boy to enjoy more privileges in the society she was born into. Inspired by a protagonist who\u2019s oscillating between androgyny, lost sexuality and gender schizophrenia, Beguinot sought to define a new gender-neutral silhouette, and sculpt a new body shape by means of an integrated plastic ruler. The otherwise classically tailored garments mix more traditionally \u201cmasculine\u201d materials like wool pinstripe and tartans with feminine fabrics like pleated cr\u00eape, satin silk and velvet. Beguinot uses primary colours; the collection is powerful yet elegant and tends towards haute couture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Virginia Burlina was inspired by outsider artist Marguerite Sir\u2019s biography: left at the altar, Sir spent her life in psychiatric asylums, where she would make, among other things, wedding dresses from beddings. The collection is romantic and melancholy, bearing embroidered flowers and tear shapes, with little knotted straps holding the garments together like reminders of the frailty of the human psyche. Another collection that stood out with its take on clich\u00e9d notions of femininity was Kristina Kharlashkina\u2019s appropriation of the Elizabethan bodice. The bare-shouldered silhouette was contrasted by the gowns\u2019 rich and opulent fabrics, adorned with kaleidoscopic floral prints.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yens Cuyvers envisioned a \u201cfluorescent neoprene dandy\u201d for his original collection, fusing bodysuits, colours best described as toxic, and classic menswear staples like tuxedos and morning jackets. Hye In Seo sought to disrupt another universally recognised dress code, namely that of school uniform. Quoting various youth subcultures, the collection was perhaps a tongue-in-cheek reflection of a student about to graduate, with jackets bearing patches that read \u201cSchool Kills\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Review by Hili Perlson\u00a0<\/b><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eran Shanny. Photo: Catwalkpictures.com One of the most anticipated shows on the graduations calendar is indubitably that of the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp. The preeminent Alma Mater of the Antwerp Six, the academy consistently bequeaths us with ingenious industry heavyweights coming from the design department headed by Walter van…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[884,21,1524,115,1525],"class_list":["post-14463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fashion","tag-antwerp","tag-fashion","tag-graduate","tag-hili-perlson","tag-royal-academy-of-fine-arts"],"acf":{"main_category":null,"legacy":"1","exclude_from_ads":null,"hero_title":null,"subtitle":null,"hero":null,"teasers":null,"facebook_image":null,"related_articles":null,"next_article":null,"sleek_card_focus":null,"content":null},"yoast_head":"\n