I Love Belgium

Superieur

Tom Tack — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 08:13:22 +0000

Superier, the design venue curated by Quinze & Milan, runs simultaneously with the 22nd design Biennale Interieur. Unlike Interieur, Superieur brings together several fields of design in a gallery like environment. The partners include rapid prototype design firm .MGX by Materialise, high quality carpet label B.I.C.-Carpets, 3form with a “Falling Panels” installation and Eastpak who provides an overview of their collabs (think Raf Simons, Eley Kishimoto and Rick Owens)

Next to this you’ll find a Dezeen pop-up watchstore, Dutch fashion designer Antoine Peters for Quinze & Milan x Eastpak and a Brick In The Wall showcase. All of this comes together in Kortrijk at the Q&M headquarters (just 500 m away from Interieur Xpo). The former industrial carpet-factory is not only the background for the exhibition, but also hosts a lounge where you can savour your Duvel! The I Love Belgium team will cover this event in the following weeks, so stay tuned…

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Frèle.x

Tom Tack — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:37:34 +0000

Lore Van Keer’s poetic jewellery collection Frèle.x is all about emotions. About being mentally and physically locked up, the idea of the human being as one physical person and a multitude of emotional personalities. She translated this in fragile porcelain, connecting the pureness of emotions with the quality of the material. Form wise she worked with the basic cube, a form that fits the emotion of hiding.

Experimenting with the cube’s form and material lead to an own aesthetic language obtained by stretching, folding, hollowing out and filling it. All of this is combined with uncontrolled silver lines, inspired by the chaotic architecture of Brussels. Yet the porcelain stays the main element of her jewellery as it combines the elements of both solidity and fragility. Porcelain has a memory of its own, which is, just like emotion, indelible and impossible to ignore. The I Love Belgium team loves her quirky, yet emotional approach of jewellery design. We already wonder what the next project will be about …

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Stephen Jones at MoMu

Tom Tack — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:41:04 +0000

They all love him: John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, Walter Van Beirendonck, Boy George, Lady Gaga, Grace Jones… an endless list of Stephen Jones followers. Since his beginning till today, Jones stayed the world’s most radical and important milliners of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. From the 8th of September 2010 the MoMu will present a retrospective exhibition of his extraordinary work.

Stephen Jones plays a unique behind-the-scenes role in fashion because of the unparalleled freedom he is given by designers, allowing his work to influence the image of a collection. Just as accents in language lead to the correct reading and rhythm of a text, Jones’s hats add the appropriate punctuation to a designer’s fashion statement.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of his House, Stephen Jones Millinery, the MoMu fashion museum exhibits their collection of Stephen Jones hats which exists out of more than 120 items (the largest collection outside Great Britain). The exhibition guides you through the unique world of a hatmaker who has worked with many of the greatest names in the international fashion scene: Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, Comme des Garçons, Claude Montana, Christian Dior, Azzedine Alaïa, Marc Jacobs, and many more.

As well as Stephen Jones’s numerous collaborations with designers, the exhibition also looks more closely at his work in film, music and photography, his early years in the London of the New Romantics, his unique relationship with fashion icon Anna Piaggi, his design process and the sources of inspiration behind his elegant, experimental and whimsical creations.

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COLLECSSION by Sayaka Yamamoto

Stijn Verlinden — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:13:19 +0000

COLLECSSION is a solo exhibition by Eindhoven Design Academy graduate Sayaka Yamamoto The three collections are all inspired by different parts and aspects of plants, and also by Sayaka’s passion of collecting.

2nd Life – the first collection, is made of collected buttons and (parts of-) tiny toy-soldiers – all 2nd hand. The choice of parts and compositions create a ‘plant-like effect’ at first glance, but when looking more closely, the tiny details constructing the brooches are revealed, and if you look even closer, the soldier-parts are put together in quite a humerus manner – it looks more like they’re dancing (or performing synchronized-swimming ) so it’s also a little comment on an alternative reality. 2nd Life features 88 brooches – all unique, numbered, and available exclusively through RA.

Tuber features approximately 45 little brooches, made of copper, with an acrylic layer. The colored effects are achieved by folding and unfolding the copper – similar to the inkblot images known from the Rorschach-test. Just as in nature, what comes out of the tuber is always a little unexpected and surprising. Even though the brooches are not in a limited edition, each brooch is a little bit different than the other. The structure creates a vain-like relief, illustrating the beginning of life, which a tuber is symbolizing.

Sketch I – Pine – Sketch is a series of brooches made of gray sketching cardboard. The material is cut into pieces and put together in compositions resembling sketches of elements from the (nature) world around us. The pieces feature different variations of the original in shape and composition, and through that suggest a new alternative world. A special transparent coating is making the brooches water resistant, while keeping their initial rough, yet detailed and delicate, look. Pine is the first Sketch and consists of about 30 different brooches.

COLLECSSION by Sayaka Yamamoto
27th of August – 21st of September 2010

RA
RA, kloosterstraat 13
2000 Antwerp

Rotor at Venice Architecture Biennale 2010

Tom Tack — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:47:58 +0000

Brussels based architecture firm Rotor occupies the Belgian pavilion at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia. Within the overall theme of “People meet in Architecture”, curated by Kazuyo Seiima of Sanaa, Rotor explores wear as a reaction to use in architecture.

The exhibition Usus/Usures displays bits and pieces of used, heavily worn, fragments from a variety of public buildings. Fabric of heavily used office buildings to faiding stairs are highlighting the notion of durability and the nature of wear and tear. The gallery like scenography takes these overlooked architectural details to works of art. In this case ‘wear’ can be the way of reading architecture.

The materials exhibited are all collected in Belgium. For practical reasons, Rotor turned to buildings which were transformed relatively suddenly from full function to a state of disuse. They looked for materials that were common and contemporary, showing mild wear as a result of moderate use.

Along with the exhibition, an publication emerged from an intensive investigation carried out in Belgium. It analyses wear as a material phenomenon and as an agent that can influence behaviour. It approaches wear not as a problem in itself, the result of an error of conception that must be avoided at all costs, but as an inevitable process that permits reflection on use and the practice of construction.

All pictures by Eric Mairiaux

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Okinaha

Stijn Verlinden — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:10:27 +0000

Fashion concept stores are popping up everywhere but ever heard of a health & beauty concept store? Well, now there’s Okinaha, a new boutique revolutionary in the health & beauty domain. You’ll find all-natural products full of active ingredients working in different areas (anti-ageing, nutritherapy, antioxidants). There’s also a library where you can stay up to date about a healthy & balanced lifestyle.© I Love Belgium© I Love Belgium© I Love Belgium© I Love Belgium

At Okinaha they consider good health to be one of the most precious things a human being can possess. So that’s why we have to take care of it even before the first signs of ageing, in order to live a longer and happier life. Okinaha is an archipelago in the south of Japan also called the centenary island. It’s the region in the world that has the highest rate of centenaries. Apparently thanks to simple nutrition principles and a natural healthy lifestyle

Where most of the organic health and beauty stores tend to be too goat-wool-socks (we’re sorry, but we have never seen happy nor healthy looking people inside those kind of stores, and we do shop there), Okinaha pioneers in being a beautifully designed store.

The concept including branding, identity and retail environment was designed by Coast, a multi-disciplinary branding practice based in Brussels. Their mission was to develop a visual identity for Okinaha that would reflect their values, which are health and longevity. Their creative output was inspired by purity and oriental simplicity, allowing the customer to relax while shopping for health. It’s true, you feel healthier the minute you walk in there.

Lazy Design

Tom Tack — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:10:23 +0000

Lazy (sun)days, don’t we all like them? Preparing for one is quite easy as they only demand a few ingredients. A good movie, finger food and a whole bunch of pillows. If you want to bring this recipe to a higher level, then the I Love Belgium team found the perfect solution. The Brussels based designers Linda Topic and Christiane Hoegner created pieces that will bring you to that highest level of laziness!

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Christiane Hoegner’s cushionized sofa uses the smallest element of the sofa as main component. When it’s usually used to adjust and customize your personal comfort/laziness level, it is now multiplies and piled up to the shape of the sofa. Dealing with our everyday life and the search for the lo-fi sensations in the necessity of a high-tech world. A piece well succeeded! Maybe you’ll want to add a loose pillow to cover your eyes (Scary movies, you know).

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Just graduated La Cambre student Linda Topic moves the laziness towards the bedroom. Her “Le Lit” design (literally translated as The Bed) is a result of a design competition. World-renowned luxury French linen brand Descamps celebrated their 150 years anniversary with a design competition. Collaboration with artist Antonin Bachet resulted into this dreamy bed. The standard wooden bed frame is transformed into 6 layers of pure softness. The palette of grey colours are inspired on the the beauty of the Belgian sky. Just one more thing the I Love Belgium team adores!

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The Devil’s Collection

Tom Tack — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:17:13 +0000

Rebranding… get rid of those slick marketing boys and hire yourself some youngsters! Cause magic only happens when some creative minds re-wrap a Belgium old time beer favourite! Duvel Collection is the name of this creative child, a successor of Arne Quinze’s collaboration with Duvel in 2007. Only this time they went international with Dutch graphic artist Parra and British/Japanese fashion brand Eley Kishimoto. Yet they stayed true to their roots with Belgian graphic designer Denis Meyers.

The I Love Belgium team preferred Parra’s interpretation of this devilish beer. Researching the imagery of underworld creatures he came up with some bright, intoxicated, seductive dancing figurines. Making the typical warm yellow beer a hell fire… yes we like that comparison. Taking only a select few commercial design jobs per year, this result is worth publishing. This is less the case with Eley Kishimoto. Copy pasting their typical print onto the glass is quite easy (in the movie on the campaign website, they don’t look enthusiastic at all). Luckily we have Denis Meyers to end with a high note. The “making of” movie shows the full story, from hand drawing the typos to folding the packaging. Indoctrinating us with Duvel logos all over!

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Parra

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Eley Kishimoto

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Denis Meyers

Achraf Amiri

Tom Tack — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:23:42 +0000

Illustrations are hot! You can’t flip open a fashion magazine without seeing aquarelles of catwalk silhouettes or articles illustrated with artsy drawings. Sometimes they’re just nice. You look at them and you think “mmm, that’s a nice drawing”. But then you also have drawings that really evoke certain emotions. They make you smile or they make you sad. They make you raise an eyebrow or they fill you with disgust.

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One of I Love Belgium’s favourite artists at the moment is Brussels based Achraf Amiri. This young potential, graduated at Sint-Lukas Brussels is a freelance Art Director and Graphic Designer but looking at his illustrations, this is certainly where his heart lies. This young man can put emotion into a drawing! Sometimes there cartoon-like, sometimes they’re really romantic, sometimes they’re high fashion, The I Love Belgium team loves his sarcastic and exaggerated view on the fashion industry: emaciated models, over-the-top make-up, killer heels and ego-tripping fashion designers. If you want to check out his work you can ‘like’ his fan page on Facebook or you can always come to Brussels to Blender01 the 2nd of September where’s he’s presenting a collection of limited edition t-shirts: ” The Heaven is Invaded by The Evil “.

BLENDER01
2nd September
rue des Chartreux 18
1000 Brussels
from 7pm till 11pm

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The Reference – Les Filles

Tom Tack — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:35:37 +0000

What do you get when you bring a chef, a musician and a dancer together? A brilliant lunch concept called “Les Filles – Plaisirs Culinaires“! These three girls: Jeanna, Pascale and Line, dreamed of a communal kitchen where you can get a healthy lunch, follow a cooking course or get a group lunch delivered to your office door.

Their playground is in the most artistic commune of Brussels, Saint Gilles. Although hidden behind the doors of an old industrial building, this gem is worthwhile discovering. For a mere 15 euros you’ll get a choice of several starters, presented on the communal tables. Afters this you take a walk with your birds, bees or patterned painted plate to the stove, where a delicious main course awaits you. You finish with a home made dessert, a prefect ending for this all-you-can-eat lunch.

The neighbours from architecture office Lhoas and Lhoas made sure you’ll enjoy the cosy kitchen home environment while the other neighbours called Base Design matched the graphics with the girls power attitude! Just like the I Love Belgium Team they enjoy their seasonal vegetables, bio chickens and a good portion of hospitality.

Les Filles
Rue Vanderschickstraat 85
1060 Brussels

only open on week days from 12.00h till 14.30h

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Five star avant-garde

Stijn Verlinden — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:21:05 +0000

You can wear Maison Martin Margiela, you can decorate your house with its ‘white objects for the home’, you can perfume yourself with its fragrance that was launched a few months ago and now you can also take a MMM holiday.

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L’Île aux Oiseaux (bird island), that’s the name of the suite designed by the iconic Belgian fashion house. The suite lies hidden on an island in the middle of a pond and is part of the 5-star retreat Les Sources de Caudalie in Bordeaux. The interior mixes a minimalist palette of whites and greys with neoclassical trompe l’oeil visuals and mirrored surfaces. The bed headboard is made of 12 white fluffy pillows and the tiles in the bathroom are printed with pictures. The only accent colour is coming from the striking Bocca red lip sofa by Studio 65. You are literally sucked to it if you can’t handle all that white anymore.

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Bue The Warrior

Tom Tack — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:46:37 +0000

Bue The Warrior, a graffiti artist skilled enough to mix the sesame street inhabitants with manga inspired Pokémons, is in a league of his own. Based in the historical city of Ghent, he single-handedly turned the gray spots into a more colorful and funny environment. His walls portray a world full of whimsical, colourful, cuddly, loving creatures that provide you an instant smile!

Lucky enough for you, his magic doesn’t stop outside our borders. Travelling the world around he left behind some of his masterpieces in Italy, Germany, USA, the Netherlands, Tsjech Republic, France, Denmark… And he seems unstoppable, releasing plush toys, tees and prints. Together with Belgian former top model An Oost and graphic design office Toykyo he created Toykyo Kids. A label full of adorable unisex clothes designed for kids aged 2 ’til 12!

The I Love Belgium team made a personal selection of Bue’s work. If you want to discover more then gaze at his Flickr account.

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Local Loving

Tom Tack — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:22:46 +0000

Locals, we are all one and we know plenty of others. They come in handy if you visit their city and want to dance the night away in an underground club. The question stays: do you know a Belgian one? If the answer is no, then don’t worry. Spotted By Locals is a cityblog that only has local driven content. So if you want to know which bars are around place Saint Gery in Brussels or which beloved shops you can find in Antwerp, then this blog is what you’re searching for.

Cinematic masterwork

Tom Tack — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:11:45 +0000

One of the real masterworks of modern cinema is Belgian and has the quite blunt title of JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES. Director Chantal Akerman was was only 25, in 1975, when she captured (with an all female crew) this three-hour-and-20-minute film about three days in the life of a widow, mother and prostitute. Akerman follows Jeanne Dielmans day to day rituals: washing, straightening, cooking and turning on and off the lights when she enters a room. Her son comes home, they have dinner, they take a walk, she puts on the radio and knits. But during the day she has gentleman in and turns tricks, leading to an inevitable crack in Jeanne’s facade. It’s both a structuralist triumph and a stunning indictment of society’s gender roles.

”Jeanne Dielman” has an extraordinary underground reputation, though it does recall the early films of Jean-Luc Godard as well as some of the work of structuralist film makers of the late 1960’s and 70’s, is not quite like any other film you’ve ever seen. It is a singular blend of feminism, modernism, and the avant-garde whose hypnotic rhythms and rigorous attention to detail make watching this masterpiece an unforgettable experience. The picture inverts normal filmic expectations by removing drama from emotional intensity and attaching it to extended daily routines.

With other words, ”Jeanne Dielman” is not a movie to see if you’re in a hurry to go somewhere else. It demands total attention. If one gives it anything less its revenge will be a boredom so complete it might be fatal. This extreme slow character study and one of cinema’s most hypnotic and complete depictions of space and time has been analysed and argued over for decades. The I Love Belgian Team found “Jean Dielman” to be an astonishing, compelling movie experiment, a real pearl worthwhile discovering.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

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see the whole movie here

Materialise Me

Tom Tack — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:38:15 +0000

Don’t we all love a new and intriguing technology? Being hailed as the technology to revolutionize the production process, Rapid Prototyping has to live up to its promise! With the help of the Leuven based Materialise Group, this technology is on its way to change everything. Through its unique .MGX by Materialise division for design products, Materialise has opened the market for customized Rapid Manufacturing. Recently the company launched a new service called i.materialise. This on-line service offeres customized 3D creation and 3D printing service to you. The start of a consumers revolution? Why driving to Ikea if you can design your one-of-a-kind lampshade or picture frame from your sofa?

Because we are not there yet, Materialise came up with a completely new design orientated division called .MGX by Materialise. The label combines art and technology by drawing on their proven experience in the high-tech arena of 3D printing techniques like stereolithography , selective laser sintering and fused deposition modeling. These innovative solutions may be the answer that fuels the new drive of 21st century design aesthetics. Today’s designers dream of the challenge of watching products transform from the intangible existence of virtual imagery into material reality. Materialise manufactures products derived from 3D graphic animation software. Thanks to advanced mathematical modifiers, this software enables designers to realize complex forms never before achieved.

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That’s why they challenged some of the top design minds in the world to use these 3D technologies. The catalogue includes work of Amanda Levete, Arik Levy and Xavier Lust. These design products are currently exported to over 20 countries worldwide; has received many awards, including two Good Design and Red Dot Design Awards; is featured in numerous international museums, including the MoMA in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris; and regularly appears in top design and decor publications such as Icon, Surface Magazine, Elle Decor and Vogue Living.

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For these prestige projects of 3D printing, they also broaden up to the fashion design field. The Dutch designer Iris van Herpen collaborated with .MGX to create a 3D printed breastplate as part of her Spring/Summer 2010 collection called Crystallization. The design was inspired by the transformation of liquid into crystals. What inspires you to get 3D printed creative? The I Love Belgium team is thinking chocolate molecules …

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Gamete By Xavier Lust

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Fall of the Damned by Luc Merx

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I Love Belgium

Crystalize by Iris van Herpen

Online Design

Tom Tack — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 09:12:51 +0000

Where will you find a wide arrange of excellent vintage design in one place? Belgium! You name a memorable design piece and one of the many dealers will have it. Going from the wanted Eames, Colombo and Poulsen to the more rare Wabbes, Caprioli or Cuneo. And if you don’t have the time for vintage treasure hunting in Antwerp (Kloosterstraat) or Brussels (Marollen) then you still have the 24/24 online shops. The I Love Belgium team made a selection of the best out there (and yes, they ship internationally).

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I LOVE BELIUM

www.city-furniture.be

City-furniture.be is a online gallery shop based in Antwerp. Their selection of known and unknown items is fully based on the owner’s personal taste, knowledge and documentation. The daily new stock, brilliant photography and a crystal clear description makes this site is a classic collector’s bookmark.

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www.furniture-love.com

Another Antwerp based selling site of vintage 20th and 21st century design. They specialize in furniture, lighting, industrial design and vintage objects, ranging from small items to complete furniture. The warehouse, stacked with these gems, is located in central Antwerp and can be visited by appointment!

www.vintagevillage.be

Vintage Village is online since June 2010 and this hobby interest became true, turns out have an excellent gallery of great finds. Going through the website we noticed that the big selection of honest priced dining-table chairs are a real must have! Want to stay updated on arrivals? Just submit to the newsletter.

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www.funkyvintage.be

This gallery from Ghent, established by brother and sister Luc & Nana, is specialized in mid-century sofas of top notch brands such as De Sede, B&B Italia and Ligne Roset. As it is the only site offering sales, prepare yourself on a Visa bill listing a fifties sofa, a seventies space-age lamp or a classic De Sede DS 600!

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www.koensteen.be

This interior architect from Hasselt has a small, yet exclusive collection of hard-to-find designs from renowned architects and designers. The best thing about this site? As a real Belgium lover, he sells high quality Belgian vintage items such as Wabbes, Van Severen and Veranneman. The ILB team is in love!

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Chauncey

Stijn Verlinden — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:43:30 +0000

There are some labels you just fall in love with. Everything is just right. Not only the clothes but also the identity, lookbook, model,… One of those brands is the Belgian brand Chauncey by Nathalie Bouhana and David Sdika. Chauncey is a knitwear menswear brand. Nathalie worked for years as a knitwear designer for international luxury brands such as Hermès, Ferragamo and Dunhill. Together with her husband David, she launched Chauncey, the name comes from the cult film Being There in which Peter Sellers plays the main character Chance or Chauncey.

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Chauncey is classic with a twist. Just like a lot of other Belgian designer brands, quality and fit are very important to Nathalie and David. They choose the highest quality yarns and manufacturers. The twist is in the detailing. As they like to say themselves: an elegant gentleman traveler look with a slice of Belgian surrealism. I Love Belgium showcases the Spring-Summer 11 collection with Brazilian model Douglas Neitzke. It was inspired by Rene Clement’s 1960 movie Plein Soleil with style icon and heart throb Alain Delon. The thick jersey marine cardigans and the rough knit dark blue crew neck are our favourite styles. We can’t wait to make long beach walks in them. But Spring-Summer 11 is still far away, so check out the Fall-Winter 10 lookbook featuring Dominique models edgy Alban Blondiaux. The I Love Belgium team loves the black v-neck with the white leather elbow pads.

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Sales forever

Stijn Verlinden — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:13:45 +0000

In Belgium the summer sales period starts the 1st of July and ends the 31st of july. We know that our Belgian designers are not the cheapest, but we know you’re willing to pay the price for innovative qualitative designs. There are places in Belgium where you can find Belgium’s finest at a fraction of the price. Yes, sales forever!I LOVE BELGIUM

I LOVE BELGIUM

First of all you have Labels Inc. in Antwerp. Erna Vandekerckhove knows the ins and outs of the Belgian fashion scene. She has lived all her live in Antwerp and the Belgian designers have no secrets for her. That’s why she started Labels Inc. a few years ago. She carries second hand or last season stocks of Dries Van Noten, Martin Margiela, Raf Simons, Ann Demeulemeester and much much more. You can even hand in your old designer wear if you want to sell it there. Labels Inc. also offers their store window as a platform for young academy graduates.

And there’s a second Belgian cavern of Ali Baba that is hidden in the ‘Kempen’ region of Belgium: depot Pierre. I don’t think that many people of Mol know that their lovely city has a fashion gem. It’s hidden on a busy and ugly commercial road in a large trailer (!!!) on the parking lot of a tire shop. Owners Pierre and his wife are Belgian fashionistas from the first hour. They have been both at the Antwerp Academy so they know most of the Belgian designers personally. That’s the reason why they have such good selections: they are hand-picked together with the designers. Pierre also has an incredible knowhow on finishing, the inspiration and creation of the garment and the way you should wear it.

So if you already exploded your credit card but you still have that craving for Belgian designerwear Labels Inc. and depot Pierre are the places to be. Spend some more, you know you want to.

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Labels Inc.
Aalmoezenierstraat 4
2000 Antwerp

www.labelsinc.be

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Open from 11am to 6pm except on Wednesday from 2pm till 6pm. Closed on Sundays.
depot Pierre
Turnhoutsebaan 168b
2400 Mol

www.depotpierre.be
Open from Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 2pm till 6pm and by appointment

Julien Lanoo Photography

Tom Tack — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:01:59 +0000

Julien Lanoo Photographs is a young photo studio in the centre of Europe, in the Belgian-French region of Lille. By its personal approach and its images of high quality, the studio is worth the name of “quality house”. Since its start in 2007, the studio photographed some of the worlds finest architecture. This includes names such as Jean Nouvel, Beal Blankaert, Sanaa and Shigeru Ban. But it’s not only the international names that find there way to this studio, Belgian studio’s such as DierendonckBlancke Architects, VitraPoint Ghent and BURO II are on the client list as well.

So why is Julien Lanoo in demand? Well he’s the best in capturing contemporary architecture on a human scale. By photographing these buildings with there surroundings, nature or users, he creates lively pictures that showcase architecture in interaction. The live-like colours, good framing and the feeling of perspective add to this recipe for brilliancy. Picked up by magazines such as Mark, Sabato and Dezeen we are sure that you can expect much more from this studio in the close future! Discover his photography HERE

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Sanaa – Rolex Learning Centre

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Herzog & De Meuron – Vitra Haus

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Jean Nouvel – Serpentine Gallery Pavilion

Yukkuri by Jan-Jan Van Essche

Stijn Verlinden — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:28:28 +0000

Jan-Jan Van Essche (1980), a Fashion Academy graduate, born and raised in Antwerp just launched his first men’s collection Yukkuri. After his graduation in 2003, he won several prices including the prestigious Dries Van Noten and FFI price. Now Jan-Jan is ready and set to go. But this will be on his own pace.© I Love Belgium

After all his first collection is titled Yukkuri; translated as ’slow’ or ‘taking it easy’ in Japanese. Jan-Jan’s collection offers a mindset or even a lifestyle of easiness, a mixture of ethnic values and influences adapted to his experience of our modern times and city life. By using embroidery, braiding and weaving technics, Jan-Jan takes it slowly but surely. All is made in Belgium and all his pieces are individually numbered in small limited series. The collection is available at Atelier Solarshop, a platform for young creatives. The former solar panel shop in the centre of Antwerp offers young designers and artists a multifunctional space which can be used an atelier, gallery or showroom. As from September 1st they will also have their second POP-UP where they will be presenting a new selection of objects and items by international, up & coming artists and designers. Fashion, jewelry, art, contemporary and vintage design. POP-UP will last for 5 weeks till October 9th.

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