Antwerp celebrates young creatives with mega fashion show

Fashion Network

10-06-2025

In the small barrel there is good wine. A collected, secluded city, but close to the sea and rich in cultural fusion. A melting pot of languages and cultures. Perhaps this is the secret of Antwerp's creative richness. Less in the limelight than major centers such as New York, London, Paris, or Milan, the city of diamonds once again confirms its vocation as a hotbed of ideas. Its fashion, in particular, continues to lead the way on the international creative scene, energizing the style offices of the most important luxury maisons with new life.
A true global creative hub, each year Antwerp hosts the end-of-year show of the fashion department of the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts. It is a grand celebration of fashion across the board, from the history of costume and technique to material research and new forms of communication.
The event, staged under the direction of the Fdc-Flanders District of Creativity and with financial support from the government and local authorities, reflects the spirit of Antwerp, a city that rejects standardization and where small independent fashion boutiques dominate, leaving no room for large chains or department stores.
The moment of the fashion show was preceded by an entire afternoon devoted to presentations of the collections of the 14 final-year students. Young designers ready to pick up the baton from the 'Antwerp Six' (think Dries Van Noten, Dirk Bikkembergs, and Ann Demeulemeester), who graduated right here in the 1980s before revolutionizing the international catwalks with their unconventional aesthetic.
The Expo took place at the academy's headquarters, which can boast in its ranks as former students designers such as Af Vandevorst, Haider Ackermann, and Kris Van Assche, to the more recent Demna Gvasalia (Gucci) and Glenn Martens (Diesel and Maison Margiela).
The fashion department is public, and young designers fund their projects independently, but in return, the school offers significant financial prizes, such as the 5,000-euro prize named after Christine Mathys, a Dries Van Noten partner who passed away in the 1990s.
"In the Antwerp fashion department, there is a group of young, talent-hungry designers who are challenging the world, who are daring, and who excite me about coming to this department every week to take classes and be a part of what they envision for this world," said Brandon Wen, an alumnus and now the artistic director of the department.
More than 120 students paraded inside a maxi hangar on the banks of the Scheldt River on the evening of June 7. Thousands of people flocked to the event that entertained the public for more than four hours. It was a true fashion marathon that opened with the creations of first-year students, who were responsible for the famous case study of skirts. A parade of total-white skirts in a wide variety of shapes gave way to graphic compositions, dominated by soft neon colors in bands, before closing with textured experiments with house-dresses and extra-large volumes.
The show continued with a two-act plunge into the past by second-year students. They paraded historical costumes (1600s to 1800s) culminating in sublime dance choreography. A techno soundtrack opens the curtain on the second act and provides a backdrop for dresses 'from the future.' Multi-layering dominates: trench coats over bodices on long bell-shaped skirts. Models sport giant shoulder pads, glittery denim, and headpieces in unusual shapes.
The third section is dedicated to world costume. Penultimate year designers draw on the traditions of their home nations as inspiration for their collections. A 40-minute tour of the world, from the Dominican Republic to Japan, via Canada, Brazil, and Poland. Also on the runway is Italian Mauro Cuccuru, with his fashion homage to his homeland, Sardinia.
The evening culminated with the highly anticipated show of the 14 masters who performed their works under the watchful eyes of their professors and a prestigious international jury also composed of Italians Stefano Martinetto (CEO Tomorrow Group), Rina Tollio (OTB), and Stefano Gallucci (Ann Demeulemeester).
Spain's Mari Albores Lojo walked the runway with a reinterpretation of the Galician tradition. American Emiliano Alvarez Torres brought attention to a new ecological narrative, while Dutch Sybrand Jansen reflected on the relationship between the organic and the infinite. The tension between illusion and reality characterized the proposal of South Korean Anji Jiyoung. Chinese Jaden Xinyu Li was inspired by Alain Badiou's work, "In Praise of Love", and conceived of love as a transformative event. Floran Polano took refuge in childhood memories as an antidote to the adult world. His clothes, in fact, were as enveloping as a parent's embrace of their child.
George Underwood's paintings inspired the 'surrealist' woman of Belgian Chloë Reners, while fellow Belgian Annaelle Reudink brought to the runway a colorful homage to existence and the infinite lives that coexist within each of us. Knitwear was at the center of Swiss Lille Schmid's proposal; Indian-born Dutchman Amar Singh evaded realities with fantasy or clown looks. From China's Beliu Song came the study of human error applied to clothing choice. Delara Tavassotti's meticulous and super technical work reflected the tension of a life suspended between present and past, while Paula Van Dijck celebrated superficiality as a tool for anthropological investigation through the use of materials that seduce and protect. Finally, Hoyt Zhang's wardrobe created a comfort zone after the traumas of the pandemic.
The show ended after midnight with the catwalk stormed by designers and models who hurriedly gained the end of the hangar amid bursts of confetti and applause from the audience. A pro-Palestinian flag and a sign extolling peace also appeared among the revelers.
It was a moment of boundless creativity that transcended the trends or canons of the present and became a spokesman for radically new ideas and aesthetics. An event that benefits from a cultural background rooted in the glorious Antwerp Six and now looking to the next six. Who, among these young designers, will succeed?