Fashion Academy Antwerp 50th birthday

 

"From 8 September 2013 till 16 February 2014 MoMu will present the exhibition '50 Years Antwerp Fashion Department'. The exhibition is one of the many projects of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp celebrating its 350th anniversary.

The exhibition will highlight various aspects of Antwerp fashion education during the first fifty years of its existence: the department's specific curriculum and its education and evaluation methods, the importance of graphic design in fashion, the various generations of students and their careers, the friendship and emergence of the 'Antwerp Six' (Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Walter Van Beirendonck, Marina Yee, Dirk Bikkembergs) and Martin Margiela, and the graduation projects of some of the most noteworthly alumni.

The exhibition illustrates how diverse the careers of the Academy's alumni are and how this programme has left a mark on the international fashion world".

I am showing work of Sabien Devriendt in photos 2 and 3, first of all because she is the sister of a good friend and second to illustrate the last quoted sentence, because Sabien graduated from the Antwerp Academy in the mid 80's and now lives in Milan, Italy where she is Dolce & Gabbana's bag fashion designer. 

More info: www.happybirthdaydearacademie.be

Meeting Walter in Charleroi

On the way back home from my mini-holiday in Italy, I had the pleasure of meeting fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck. 
He was waiting for his luggage at the Charleroi airport. As he was such a good sport to us paparazzi who recognized him, I asked him how he felt about traveling being a celebrity and he answered that this is just part of the game. 
I also did ask him for permission to take his photograph but forgot to mention that I had a posting on This is Belgium in mind. I assume and hope he will approve.
Walter  graduated from the Antwerp Fashion Academy in 1980. Together with Dirk Van Saene, Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Marina Yee and Dirk Bikkembergs, he became known as one of the Antwerp Six, a group of pioneers and very influential fashion designers who graduated from the Antwerp Academy in the period 1980-1981. 
You can read more about Walter Van Beirendonck and have a look at his collection on the link below.   
http://www.waltervanbeirendonck.com/index.html
http://www.visitflanders.in/discover/flanders/people/fashion-designers/walter-van-beirendonck/index.jsp