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From fake fashion show invites to capturing the world\u2019s attention with guerrilla shows, MoMu\u2019s latest exhibition, The Antwerp Six, celebrates six of fashion\u2019s most legendary designers.<\/p>\n
A projection of Walter Van Beirendonck is affixed to a\u00a0mannequin kitted out in a\u00a0bomber jacket with floral detailing and black trousers. \u200b\u201cWalter\u201d is chatting to his robot, Puk Puk. In the distance, I\u00a0hear a\u00a0distorted version of Britney Spears\u2019 Gimme More near Dirk Van Saene\u2019s installation, and the faint musings of Raf Simons talking about a\u00a0set of distinctive and \u200b\u201cindividual\u201d designers better known as the Antwerp Six.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the day before MoMu opens its latest exhibition to the public, one that celebrates 40\u00a0years since the formation of the radical group of designers: Walter Van Beirendonck, Marina Yee, Ann Demeulemeester<\/a>, Dirk Van Saene, Dries Van Noten and Dirk Bikkembergs. Truthfully, it\u2019s the kind of show that, even with only three hours\u2019 sleep and a\u00a0Belgian welcome involving being pelted with hailstones while waiting for my Uber, is more than worth the journey.<\/p>\n Heading through the semi-brutalist reception space and up some wooden stairs, there are portraits of each of the Six shot by Ann Demeulemeester\u2019s life partner, Patrick Robyn. Throughout the space are six individual installations beginning with a\u00a0chronological timeline of the Antwerp Six\u2019s origins and evolution: there\u2019s the Golden Spindle contest in Belgium in 1982, designed to encourage textile use, and their first trip to London as a\u00a0cohort. There are Dries Van Noten\u2019s sketches, fake invitations for Gaultier and Mugler shows made from yoghurt lids, and various other artefacts the Six concocted in order to sneak into fashion shows. \u201c[The Antwerp Six] were different and special,\u201d says Kaat Debo, MoMu\u2019s chief curator and director. \u200b\u201cNot all the other students were as ambitious. Some of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp students [where all six studied] just wanted to be able to make their own wedding dresses, but each of the Six brought something to the group.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s this ballsiness that eventually captured the world\u2019s eye, leading to the group\u2019s now-famous 1986 excursion to London, where they were given a\u00a0spot at the British Design Show \u2013 albeit a\u00a0small one. Dissatisfied, they hosted a\u00a0guerrilla show and were told \u200b\u201cnot to come back\u201d, Debo explains. While individualistic and distinctive in their designs, they operated separately but travelled as a\u00a0pack. After the British Design Show fiasco, the Six caught the attention of the press, and Barneys was the first to invest in Dries Van Noten\u2019s ready-to-wear.<\/p>\n Entering the first installation, dedicated to Dirk Bikkembergs \u2013 the first of the Six to travel to Paris post-London \u2013 I\u2019m met with a\u00a0slideshow of muscly, ripped models wearing tight briefs, glistening abs barely hidden by gilets, all drawn from his archive dating back to 1988. Most notable, though, is the absence of clothes. Instead, the images hammer home the designer\u2019s message: fashion coming to life on the body, driven through sport.<\/p>\n Coming face-to-face with Walter\u2019s mannequin, I\u00a0quickly realise it\u2019s probably the least interesting element of his installation. Surrounding it are brightly coloured suits, headwear resembling flowers, snow boots that look as though paint has been spilled over them, busy patterns, and shaggy textured skirts. Puk Puk asks \u200b\u201cWalter\u201d, \u200b\u201cWhat about the future? What do you see?\u201d, and the designer\u2019s voiceover replies, \u200b\u201cThe best way to predict the future is to create it. So I\u00a0keep pushing \u2013 future-proof, Puk Puk. That\u2019s what we have to be\u201d. Apt advice in today\u2019s fashion climate. At Dirk Van Saene\u2019s installation, mannequins in trompe l\u2019oeil designs are topped with a\u00a0series of animated cartoon heads. Now a\u00a0designer-turned-artist, the influence of surrealism in his work is clear.<\/p>\n Dries Van Noten\u2019s section features a\u00a0hidden jewellery compartment (quite fab, I\u00a0must say), and collections of billowing, layered garments sitting next to paisley prints and embellished skirts. It feels grown-up and playful in equal measure. On the wall is an illustration of looks spanning back to 1997. Marina Yee\u2019s section, my favourite, is presented as a\u00a0replica of her atelier\/\u200bflat, where she worked. Everything is nearly identical, only each object has been shifted ever so slightly to the right. Images of fencers line the walls, a\u00a0mannequin bust is covered in a\u00a0collage of pictures, and books, shelves and trinkets cover every surface. It\u2019s messy and inspiring. As one of the Six who alternated between art and fashion, Marina officially rebooted her brand in 2018. She passed away in November 2025.<\/p>\n Ann Demeulemeester closes the exhibition with lacquered black flooring and mannequins dressed entirely in black. Romantic, complicated and darkly beautiful, the looks feature feathered hats, leather constructed tops, skirts with multiple zips pooling onto the floor, sequins, and lavish jackets. There\u2019s a\u00a0lot to take in. Below, Debo shares a\u00a0few of her favourite moments from working on the exhibition. <\/p>\n What were your initial thoughts when you found out this exhibition was going to happen? <\/p>\n Actually, I\u00a0had the idea [for it]. I\u00a0thought, it\u2019s the 40th anniversary in 2026 \u2013 maybe we should do it because we have never done a\u00a0show on this. We had to find the moment that all Six would be in Antwerp, and we proposed the idea to them. The name [Antwerp Six] had mythical proportions, and I\u00a0thought it was important to really tell the story as a\u00a0museum, to do the historical research. That\u2019s why we used so much archival material.<\/p>\n Sadly, Marina Yee has passed away. What did you find the most interesting about her work?<\/p>\n She had the most unusual career. The rest of them launched when they went to Paris, Marina was different. She hesitated a\u00a0lot between art and fashion. And I\u00a0think as a\u00a0society, we tend to put creatives in boxes: either you\u2019re a\u00a0fashion designer, an artist, a\u00a0photographer. We shouldn\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your favourite element of the exhibition?<\/p>\n There\u2019s this collage they made together to thank Jean Paul Gaultier when he was president of the second Golden Spindle contest [in 1983]. He was president of the jury, and they made this very funny collage together to send to JPG as a\u00a0thank you.<\/p>\n Who was the most progressive out of the Six?<\/p>\n Walter is probably one of the most radical and engaged of the Six. Already in the \u200b\u201990s, he was dealing with themes like HIV, safe sex, queer identity through his work. Using a\u00a0robot as a\u00a0character, he communicated difficult messages.<\/p>\n Tell me about the music choices<\/p>\n Dirk Van Saene and Ann Demeulemeester composed playlists for their installations. For our opening exhibitions, we also worked with 2manydjs<\/a>, who put together an Antwerp Six tribute playlist. We\u2019ll be launching this in the coming months.<\/p>\n What do you hope people take away from the exhibition?<\/p>\n I hope that it will also inspire young people to communicate with each other, to connect with each other, to network with each other, because maybe we train designers too much as individuals. Fashion is a\u00a0group effort. Forty years ago, the Antwerp Six were our emerging talents. How do we nurture, support, and challenge our talent today in an industry that is very different from 40\u00a0years ago? The Antwerp Six emerged at a\u00a0time when it was still possible to invent an independent fashion practice outside dominant systems. Today\u2019s fashion landscape is very different, but precisely for that reason, their story feels urgently relevant.<\/p>\n The Antwerp Six will be open at <\/p>\n The best style, stories, music and offers. 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