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.



Walter Van Beirendonck

Walter Van Beirendonck (Brecht, 4 February 1957) is a Flemish fashion designer.
He graduated in 1980 from the Royal Arts Academy in Antwerp.
His breakthrough was the British Designer Show in London in 1987 as part of the Antwerp Six.
Since 1983, he has his own collections under the label Walter Van Beirendonck. Walter has been inspired for his designs by art, music and literature, all mixed with ethnic an nature influences. His unusual color combinations, innovating cuts and a strong graphic influence are characteristic for his collections. His continous statements about the fashionworld, earth, nature, contemporary life and society are collected in prints and slogans.
Walter Van Beirendonck is considered to be one of the main trend-setters in men's fashion by the professional press. In 1997, he designed the costumes for the U2 "PopMart Tour". In 1999, he was awarded the honorary title of "Cultural Ambassador of Flanders". In 2001, he was the curator for the exhibition Mode 2001 Landed-Geland in Antwerp. Since recently he is also the Artistic Director for Scapa Sports. He has also a childrens collection, called ZULUPAPUWA, for JBC (a Belgian fashion chain of shops). As you can notice, every collection carries a well-defined name.
Walter Van Beirendonck works besides the collections, regurarely on projects: designing costumes for theater, ballet and film, curating expositions, designing objects, think-thank for commercial projects and products, image-making for pop-groups, illustrating books, designing commercial collections...