{"id":8384,"date":"2026-03-25T16:19:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/8384\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T16:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:19:11","slug":"six-things-you-never-knew-about-the-antwerp-six","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/8384\/","title":{"rendered":"Six things you never knew about the Antwerp Six"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weekend (March 28), the first major retrospective exhibition about the Antwerp Six opens its doors in Belgium. Hosted at Antwerp\u2019s MoMu fashion museum, the exhibition is devoted to the work of the six pioneering designers: Dries Van Noten<\/a>, Ann Demeulemeester<\/a>, Walter Van Beirendonck<\/a>, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs and Marina Yee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The exhibition marks the 40th anniversary of the group, who got their nickname back in 1986, when they all piled into a van headed to the UK and displayed their work as part of the British Designer Showcase (now known as London Fashion Week). They were given a space to show their collections, but it was tucked upstairs and away from all the action. The designers resorted to flyering, which eventually got the attention of buyers and the global fashion press \u2013 who dubbed them \u201cThe Antwerp Six\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"TheThe Antwerp Six, 1985Photography Patrick Robyn<\/p>\n

Although each designer had their individual brand and vision, they were banded together as a result of their training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp. In some ways, the creation of the Antwerp Six was a beautiful accident, yet it helped launch each of their individual careers. Beyond the six designers, Geert Bruloot \u2013 the entrepreneur widely credited with organising the trip \u2013 was also a passenger in the van to London. Now, Bruloot has been enlisted as a guest curator of the exhibition, alongside MoMu curators Kaat Debo and Romy Cockx.<\/p>\n

Below, we caught up with all three of the exhibition\u2019s curators, who have each picked two of their most surprising facts about the infamous group of designers. The Antwerp Six at MoMu opens March 28 and runs until January 17, 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"TheThe Antwerp Six, 1987, published in WWDPhotography Philippe Costes<\/p>\n

Romy Cockx: The famous trip to London in 1986 \u2013 often seen as the moment Belgian fashion exploded internationally \u2013 was improvised and chaotic. They nearly didn\u2019t make it on time because they lost the keys to the van that contained their collections. Upon arrival at the British Designer Show, they realised they were given a small, overlooked space upstairs at the trade show. Because nobody was visiting their stand, the designers started handing out photocopied flyers downstairs. That improvised promotion eventually brought buyers like Barneys to their collections.<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"TheThe Antwerp Six, 1986Photography Karel Fonteyne<\/p>\n

Romy Cockx: They are often described as a group, but they don\u2019t perceive themselves that way. On the eve of their individual careers, the Six decided to temporarily join forces to present their work internationally at the British Designer Show in London. Within three years, the group had become a household name that continues to resonate today. However, they never operated as a brand, fashion house or collective. Their London breakthrough was far less glamorous than the legend suggests.<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"MarinaMarina Yee, Spring Summer 1988Photography Andrew MacPherson<\/p>\n

Kaat Debo: The Antwerp Six changed how fashion education was perceived internationally. Before their rise, fashion schools were rarely seen as launching pads for global careers. Their success suddenly put the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp on the international map and reshaped how the industry looked at fashion education. The internationalisation and professionalisation of the fashion department in the following four decades is unparalleled.<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"DirkDirk Bikkembersg, Spring Summer 1987Photography Luc Williame<\/p>\n

Geert Bruloot: The Antwerp Six was never meant to exist. There was no strategy, no manifesto, just a spontaneous coming together of six distinct personalities at a particular moment in time. For the exhibition, one of the key challenges was precisely this: how to capture a myth, while doing justice to six radically different designers.<\/p>\n

They were all completely different characters. As their careers evolved, each designer quickly followed their own path, leaving the name behind. And yet, the myth endured. The Antwerp Six became shorthand for something bigger: a romantic image of a group of friends shaking up the fashion system together. It\u2019s a story people have tried to decode ever since in search of a formula. But in reality, its power lies precisely in what can\u2019t be replicated: spontaneity, coincidence, and the right moment.<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"AnnAnn Demeulemeester, Spring Summer 1988Photography Patrick Robyn<\/p>\n

Geert Bruloot: The Antwerp Six myth oversimplifies Belgian fashion history. The exhibition shows a much more complex network of designers and collaborators. In the 1980s, the Antwerp fashion world was tiny. Designers, stylists, photographers and students were all closely connected, often collaborating across disciplines and helping each other make a total concept around the collections with invitations, lookbooks and presentations.<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"DriesDries Van Noten, Spring Summer 2013Photography Patrice Stable<\/p>\n

Kaat Debo: Their legacy still shapes Antwerp today. The exhibition looks at how the Antwerp Six helped build the reputation of the Royal Academy and influenced generations of designers who followed. Not only the Academy, but also the MoMu, was able to indirectly ride the wave of the success of the Antwerp Six. The fact that Antwerp is known today as a fashion city is undoubtedly linked to their success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This weekend (March 28), the first major retrospective exhibition about the Antwerp Six opens its doors in Belgium.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6],"tags":[19,818,824,823,825,826,827,828,829,128,819,821,822,820],"class_list":["post-8384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-antwerp","tag-antwerp","tag-art","tag-dazed","tag-dazed-confused","tag-dazed-confused-magazine","tag-dazed-and-confused","tag-dazed-and-confused-magazine","tag-dazedconfused","tag-dazeddigital","tag-fashion","tag-film","tag-ideas","tag-ideas-sharing-network","tag-music"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116290726347066016","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}