Antwerp Six

Group of Belgian fashion designers From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Antwerp Six are a group of fashion designers who trained at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 19801981 under Mary Prijot.[1] The press began referring to them as a group beginning in about 1990 after the group in 1986 drove in a van from Belgium to present at a London tradeshow and unexpectedly made an impression.[2]

The Antwerp Six in 2013: From left: Marina Yee, Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Bikkembergs, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Van Saene

Members

History

The fashion collective presented a distinct, radical vision for fashion during the 1980s that established Antwerp as a notable location for fashion design. The breakthrough occurred in 1986 as the group rented a truck and set out for the London Fashion Week with their collections. The reporters could not pronounce their names so began collectively referring to them as the Antwerp Six.[2]

Martin Margiela, another Belgian contemporary, was not actually part of the group that showed in London, although he is often mistakenly described as one of the Antwerp Six because he also emerged from the Antwerp scene immediately before the "Antwerp six" came to being. He subsequently moved to Paris, initially working for Jean Paul Gaultier and then opening his own label.

From 28 March 2026 — 17 January 2027, MoMu Fashion Museum Antwerp will exhibit The Antwerp Six celebrating the 40th anniversary of the group.[4][5]

References

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