A Rare Reunion for the ‘Antwerp Six’

[lucy92]

A Rare Reunion for the ‘Antwerp Six’

By SUZY MENKES

ANTWERP — They were known as the ‘'Antwerp Six” back in the 1980s, when the idea of Belgian fashion seemed like a contradiction in terms.
Now names like Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Bikkembergs and Dries Van Noten slip off fashion tongues. And last week, Walter Van Beirendonck, head of the fashion department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, led a group reunion — 30 years after their own student days — to celebrate their school’s 50th anniversary.
‘'Thirty years — it was a hell of a ride and I don’t regret a minute,'’ said Mr. Bikkembergs, while Dirk Van Saene took a more nostalgic view, saying: ‘'I was never so conscious about it. When you are young, it is different and I regret it now that I didn’t live it 100 percent.'’
The fashion gang, which also included Marina Yee, had loaded its clothes into a truck in 1986 and drove to London, a trip that ended up putting Belgian fashion on the international map of style.
Since then, Ms. Yee remembers only one other occasion when the six got together: To crack a bottle of Champagne at a millennium charity event.
“Lot of memories coming back — but not so much, as we see quite a lot of each other,'’ said Mr. Van Noten, who opened his first tiny store in Antwerp in 1986 and has built his international business from the city. He persuaded Ms. Demeulemeester, who tends to keep to herself in her Le Corbusier house on the edge of the city, to join the group's celebration this time.
Both admitted to a wave of nostalgia as they walked through a Royal Academy room that had served as a show space during their student days.
‘'I think it was a very exciting moment all together at school,'’ said Ms. Demeulemeester. ‘'It was really nice to go back to the old academy, to feel not much had changed.”
The reunion had a purpose: The established designers were part of a jury viewing the work of students in the four-year master class.
The historic city, with its Gothic spires, grand guildhalls and old wharfs, offered students the chance to select personal environments for their runway shows that could vary from the academy’s underground sculpture room to the opera house, or even a flower shop — more opportunity for self expression than was given to students in the academy’s early days.
The result was a stream of dramatic installations, from the fairground circle created by the Japanese designer Minju Kim to an underground forest of tree-like clothing from Jack Davey.
In September, Kaat Debo, director of MoMu, the Antwerp fashion museum, plans to stage an exhibition to celebrate the fashion school’s 50th anniversary. With the title of ‘'Happy Birthday Dear Academie'’ and an opening date of Sept. 8, it will run in tandem with other exhibitions, events and conferences marking 350 years of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, to be held at MAS, Antwerp’s new city museum, and M HKA, the museum of contemporary art.
Ms. Debo is adamant that the ‘'Antwerp Six'’ were a turning point for the school.
‘'When the fashion academy started 50 years ago, all the students were Flemish — but the ‘Antwerp Six’ made it attractive internationally,'’ Ms. Debo said. ‘'Now there are 27 different nationalities in the 150 students, and it is important to show not only the history of the school but its relevance to the fashion world.'’ (nytimes)

 

[haydn]

So special.

I could base my entire wardrobe just from them.

 

[Scott]

it's amazing how different each are separately personality-wise,but supported and continue to support one another. they are often in attendance at each other's events in antwerp. i say it all comes down to having that academy and london experience in common....whilst all have remained antwerp-based as well. such a great camaraderie. i love it.

btw,there's another great image and article on fashionista.com-

Last week, the Antwerp Fashion Department’s master students presented their graduate collections under the eyes of the Antwerp Six to celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary.

It was a historical moment. As designer-clad crowds lined up at the Campari bar and smoked cigarettes on the waterfront, all members of the Antwerp Six–Ann Demeulemeester, Marina Yee, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs, and Walter Van Beirendonck–sat at the front row of the Antwerp Fashion Department’s graduation show. For the academy’s 50th year, they had been invited on the jury to assess the graduates’ collections.

“The focus of the program is creative freedom,” said Ann Demeulemeester, wearing her all-black rock ‘n’ roll uniform at the Academy’s garden brunch. “They push students to find their own voice.”

Demeulemeester, who lives in a Le Corbusier house away from the city center, had not returned to her alma mater since she’d been a student there 30 years ago. She recalled how she’d rebelled against the academy’s rigid education at the time, along with the tight-knit group now known as the Six.

“We came out of the middle of nowhere,” she said. “We had the freedom to start from zero, and we worked hard.”

The Six took inspiration from Paris (Claude Montana, Thierry Mugler, Jean Paul Gaultier) and Tokyo (Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garçons), and from the tumultuous revolts and music of the late ’70s to create radically new aesthetics that changed the course of fashion history. Their spirit clearly continues to inspire the Academy’s graduates, who train for four years under the critical guidance of director Walter Van Beirendonck, developing technical mastery, deep creativity and expert research skills, ultimately “pushing their boundaries and helping them shape a total vision,” as the director puts it.

Minju Kim, the winner of this year’s H&M Design award, created a saccharine fantasy collection in whites and pastels, reinterpreting classic tweeds and houndstooth prints with cutting-edge materials and balloon shapes. Mattia Van Severen, who took home three awards, printed concrete color blocks on contemporary menswear using the Victorian technique of flocking. The collection recalled the pure lines and vivid colors of modernism and of Antwerp’s iconic Martin Margiela, Dries Van Noten, Raf Simons, and Kris Van Assche.

Pierre Renaux, who received an award from the MoMu fashion museum, infused his collection with a dark spirit–think razor-cut skirts and spectacular 3-D shoes with heels sculpted in sci-fi shapes. The pumps will be exhibited at the MoMu all summer.

And come September, the museum will stage the exhibition Happy Birthday Dear Academy, reuniting the work of the school’s most stellar graduates and displaying rarely seen pieces from the graduate collections of the Antwerp Six.

notoriously shy ann covering her face and the always dapper dries and dirk van saene with the ever-lumimous marina yee who while lesser known is equally as talented as her peers.

 

[tricotineacetat]

What I've heard from Antwerp since Walter Van Beirendonck took over the fashion department from Linda Loppa seems absolutely dreadful in terms of the educational approach... rather rigidly sticking to developing designs after drawings as well as not nurturing enough variety in aesthetics. I wonder if somebody like Véronique Branquinho would have made it through the current system with her much more discreet, subdued aesthetics.

 

[Scott]

you know it's interesting because walter was an instructor for years under the leadership of linda loppa. i dunno,it has changed but the thing i've noticed more is the lack of emotional quality than under linda. maybe he's trying to push them in a way that challenges their imaginations more rather than sticking to that notoriously serious,quiet and sensitive aesthete that the academy is often labelled with?

 

[tricotineacetat]

Let's face it, Walter Van Beirendonck isn't exactly known for the most subtle of fashions, and most of what has come out of the academy as of late hasn't been particularly much so, either. As a friend of mine who quit the school had said very recently: You get along better when you do the outlandish, pastel-coloured teletubby-shapes. Then again, you look at a lot of young designer's work lately and you think it's all aimed at dressing Lady Gaga, so maybe it's something that's just in the air...?

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Love the group photo.

 

[Scott]

i was thinking that as well,tricot. maybe it's a generational thing and what the kids are influenced by.

i will say,all things considered,this year i think was by far the best class since walter took over. there were a few students who i think met the same kind of mentality the academy has been renowned for.....pierre renaux's work was phenomenal....sort of had that structural esotericism that recalled much of the very early work of jurgi persoons with a nod to chalayan in terms of fabric treatment. and loved the work from jack davey too....very romantic stuff. very serious looking stuff too that didn't veer into the sesame street characters.