Antwerp's Fashion Academy ranks 4th in the world

"Since the international success of the so-called Antwerp Six, who studied at the Fashion department in the late seventies, further generations have continued to confirm the school's strong vision,” states Walter Van Beirendonck, who runs the fashion department as well as being one of the Antwerp Six. “This vision focuses on creativity and individual designer statements. A new generation of fashion designers has emerged in Antwerp today – Demna Gvesalia, Glenn Martens… - showing that fashion can be exciting, individual, adventurous and rebellious.”

With the involvement of no less than 45 different nationalities, the fashion department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp is particularly notable for its tailored training, in which each student is given intensive and individual guidance by a team of professors who each have strong connections with the fashion world.

The fashion department is looking externally more than ever, concludes Van Beirendonck. “The challenge is to keep the department alive and kicking, so that fashion students from around the world find it worthwhile to come to such a small place as Antwerp. In recent years we have tried to involve increasing numbers of creative people from the outside, in partnerships, projects and workshops. This benefits both the school and the students.”

Business of Fashion, that focuses mainly on the commercial side of the fashion industry, evaluated all fashion courses for their global influence on the fashion world, the learning experience of students themselves and the extent to which students are ready for the professional world after completing their Master's degree. In a list of 54 schools – including 30 more than the year before – the Antwerp Academy still appears to be among the most influential in the world.