Antwerp: They were known as the “Antwerp Six” back in the ’80s, 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 wee, Walter van Beirendonck, head of the fashion department at the 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. And that reunion had a purpose: The established designers were a part of a jury viewing the work of students in the four-year master class. The historic city, with its Gothic spires, grand guilhalls and old wharfs, offered students the chance to select personal enviroments for their runway shows that could vary from the academy’ s underground sculpture roomto the opera house. 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.
Source: www.nytimes.com
