Description



The Antwerp Six is a group of influential avantgarde fashion designers that graduated from the Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the eighties. At the academy they were taught by Linda Loppa. The fashion collective presented a distinct radical vision for fashion during the 1980's that established Antwerp as a notable location for fashion design. The breakthrough occurred in 1988 as the group rented a truck and set out for the London fashion fair with their collections and have put this city on the fashionmap ever since. 

After that they all went their seperate ways and became famous individually with their own very distinct style and trademarks. Having done all of this they set an example for their continuators (such as Raf Simons, Veronique Branquinho, Kaat Tilley etc.) at the Flemish academies, and they set the - very solid - fundaments for the ferther growth of fashion in Antwerp.  

Since 2002 Antwerp has an actual, literal fashion centre: The ModeNatie (or fashion nation). In this exceptional building in the haert of the city, right next to van Noten's 'Fashion Paradise' their is a fashion school, a fashion museum and the Flanders Fashion Institute and recently also the biggest bootique of the Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto.



Ann Demeulemeester

Ann Demeulemeester (1959, Waregem, Belgium) graduated from the Belgium's prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 1981. Soon after, she stormed the runways as part of the avant-garde “Antwerp Six,” and brought an arty moodiness to fashion. She currently lives in a Corbusier-designed home in Antwerp.
Demeulemeester launched her line in 1985 and soon it became known as an experimental—yet wearable—line. She has consistently attracted clients who like a little artiness in their wardrobes. The designer mixes and matches different fabrics and then slashes, rips, and tears them, often in a moody palette of brown, gray, and black. But she has been known to tap into a cheerful femininity from time to time as well. But Demeulemeester’s signature is a slouchy masculine look that references her longtime muse Patti Smith. The singer has sometimes created special spoken-word poetry for Demeulemeester’s runway soundtracks. Patti Smith 's lyrics, from the other side, had often an influence on the prints as well. Currently, she is working on a clothing line inspired by Jackson Pollock. Ann Demeulemeester has also worked with the artist Jim Dine.