The Antwerp Six: Most Influential Avant-Garde Belgium Fashion Designers of 20th Century
Have you heard about Antwerp Six? If you have interested in Fashion, maybe you’ve heard of the group. But who were they exactly?
Antwerp Six refers to a group of fashion designer who graduated from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 1980–1982. They have studied fashion under the direction of Linda Loppa.
Until this group appeared to the world, Antwerp was not considered as center of European fashion industry like Paris, London and Milan. Antwerp lacked a movement that mirrored the ones initiated by likes of the Japanese greats, such as Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo and Kenzo Takada, that turned Parisian fashion ideas upside down in the 1980s or the larger-than-life Italians, like Gianni Versace, Giorgio Armani, and Valentino Garavani, that made Milan — as opposed to the already established Florence — into the Italian epicenter in the 1970’s and 80’s.
That changed, however, with the rise of the Antwerp Six, the influential group of avant-garde Belgian fashion designers: Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs, and Marina Yee.
These six people have graduated between 1980–1982, and head to London in 1986 to make their mark on the fashion world. Their eye-catching presentations and ground-breaking designs caught the attention of the UK fashion press, and get the name of “Antwerp Six” due to difficulties of pronunciation of their names.
Times of London in 1980s
“Vibrant fashion scene in the mid 80s, with designers like John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood and Katharine Hamnett gaining prominence”
Their vision was so unconventional and outstanding that it re-shaped Antwerp into a reputable destination within the fashion world, even more so after their engagement at the London fashion fair. Unlike big names such as Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana, they had no interest in becoming a global sensation; they were proud of their unique, creative designs. They created a limited number of garments with little to no advertising — and wanted to keep it that way. After their breakthrough show, the fashion collective split to work individually, each developing a distinct style and trademarks.
Their presence on the fashion scene — paired with unofficial member as seventh member(people often call them as the Antwerp Six + 1), Belgian designer, Martin Margiela, — largely worked to expand the focus from Paris, which was firmly established as the center of the fashion universe, their aesthetic was significantly different from the luxury houses that were dominating the industry.
The Antwerp Six and their experimental-meets-commercial approach to fashion opened doors for other Belgian designers. Now, even 30 years later, people still couldn’t stop reminiscing about the legendary six who brought Belgian-root fashion to global fame and how they trailblazed the way for their successed designers like Raf Simons, Haider Ackerman, Kris Van Assche and Demna Gvasalia.
