Antwerp Six immortalised in a new book
The Antwerp Six have been immortalised in a new book by author Oscar Van den Boogaard after he interviewed the legendary designers together.
They have often been conflated to “The Six”: Dirk Bikkembergs, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene and the recently deceased Marina Yee. Each of them masters of their craft, each of them having studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, in the fashion department.
The outside world may see them as a unit, but were they really that close? What were they like as individuals? It had become a rarity to get all six of them together in a room, but that’s what author Oscar Van den Boogaard achieved. The writer said he thought the fact that he’s a novelist rather than a journalist helped him in his exploit. “I really wanted to get under the skin of these people, and I’ve accomplished that, I think,” he said.
The Six have paved the way for myriad Belgian designers who have taken and continue to take the world by storm, from New York to Milan via Paris. The Royal Academy, as well as La Cambre in Brussels, are among the best fashion schools in the world, some would even say they’re unrivalled.
Do you have an Antwerp Six piece in your wardrobe?