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. Read the rest of this entry »
6
Sep
2010
Sep
2010
Stephen Jones at MoMu
3
Sep
2010
Sep
2010
COLLECSSION by Sayaka Yamamoto
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. Read the rest of this entry »
4
Aug
2010
Aug
2010
Online Design
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). Read the rest of this entry »
2
Aug
2010
Aug
2010
Sales forever
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! Read the rest of this entry »
28
Jul
2010
Jul
2010
Yukkuri by Jan-Jan Van Essche
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. Read the rest of this entry »
13
Jun
2010
Jun
2010
Atelier 11 FW10 – Enchanted
Atelier 11’s Fall/Winter collection 2010 Enchanted reads like a fairytale. The Antwerp based jewelry collective was inspired by epics such Lord of the Rings or oldskool whimsical movies such as Labyrinth (Ludovic Colpaert, one half of Atelier 11 is a huge David Bowie fan, check out the master of androgyny himself in this eighties fairytale). Read the rest of this entry »
6
Jun
2010
Jun
2010
The Reference – Mil’s Place
There are places where you just walk by. Places known by insiders. Mil’s Place is one of those. The tiny Italo-French restaurant in Antwerp is not in the city centre, but it’s not really outside the city either. It’s hidden between typical pubs, galleries and shops in the St.-Jorispoort just across the neo-gothic St.-Joris church. Read the rest of this entry »
5
Jun
2010
Jun
2010
I Love Belgium interviews Clyde Burrows
Yes, Belgium is a small country and sometimes it’s too small for some of us. One of those people is Clyde Burrows aka Tom Eerebout, a stylist from Bredene, a tiny town at the Belgian seaside. After studying in Antwerp, he took off to Amsterdam where he met his boyfriend, upcoming Dutch fashion photographer Joost Vandebrug. They both moved to London to try their luck across the canal. Clyde is currently working with Nicola Formichetti, the personal stylist of Lady Gaga. I Love Belgium sat down with Clyde and picked his brain. Read the rest of this entry »
3
Jun
2010
Jun
2010
Coccodrillo men’s store
Coccodrillo, Antwerp’s most renowned shoe store finally dedicated a whole store to their men’s collections. The art-deco inspired interior of the men’s store, just across the first Coccodrillo store in the Schuttershofstraat, was done by Gert Voorjans. The space breathes 30s Buenos Aires with loads of wooden accents and geometrical chandeliers confirming the male character of the store. Read the rest of this entry »
20
May
2010
May
2010
Top 10 Architecture
Where do we look when we want to see innovative architecture? The Netherlands… think again! The last years Belgium has seen an increase in young, talented and dynamic architecture firms coming out schools such as Sint-Lucas and La Cambre. A new generation that’s keen on going from the design phase to the actual realization of the project, pushed by architecture lovers who see talent and give possibilities. Read the rest of this entry »
10
May
2010
May
2010
Alexandra Verschueren wins Hyères Festival
The 22-year old Belgian designer Alexandra Verschueren has won the €15,000 L’Oréal Professional Grand Prize at the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography, reports Art Info. Read the rest of this entry »
6
May
2010
May
2010
Antwerp Fashion Academy graduation show
The annual fashion acadamy graduation shows are coming up. First up is the show of the reknowned Antwerp Fashion Academy. Read the rest of this entry »
30
Mar
2010
Mar
2010
The Reference – Burgerlicious
Yes we know that Belgium is adored for its fries, but do you realize that we also have some delicious burger places? And no we don’t mean MacDonalds or Quick, but places where your burgers are prepared with a smile and some love! Therefore, the I Love Belgium team made a selection of restaurants where you can get your mouthwatering experience.
24
Mar
2010
Mar
2010
BLACK. Masters of Black in Fashion & Costume at MoMu Antwerp
The new exhibtion at the Antwerp fashion museum MoMu is called BLACK. Masters of Black in Fashion & Costume illustrates the historic phases of the colour black, with examples from painting, historic costume and contemporary fashion. It also looks more deeply into the textures and the potentials of black in diverse materials, including fur, leather and lace. In addition, the exhibition includes masterpieces by contemporary designers who, like the city of Antwerp, have a special connection to black. With silhouettes by Belgian designers as well as international couture houses: Ann Demeulemeester, Olivier Theyskens, Dirk Van Saene, Givenchy (Riccardo Tisci), Chanel, Gareth Pugh and more.
The exhibition BLACK. Masters of Black in Fashion & Costume runs from the 25th of March till the 8th of August 2010 in MoMu.
Nationalestraat 28
2000 Antwerp
© I Love Belgium
1
Mar
2010
Mar
2010
CultUs
The 5th of March the Ingrid Deuss gallery will welcome CultUs, an exhibit curated by Belgian make-up & hair artist Sabine Peeters. Sabine’s quest is not a quest for fame or fortune. She just wanted to unite Belgian talented people from different creative disciplines. Together with Gent photography duo Verne, Belgian model Ouni and stylist Ruben Debuck, she created a series of images portraying her personal beauty-interpretation of different cultures and religions. Central focal point of each picture is the same model transformed in a different context. Sabine’s conviction is that every religion or communal model starts from the same ideal: a secure feeling, mentally as well as physically.
24
Feb
2010
Feb
2010
Graanmarkt 13
It’s raining superstores in Belgium. It started with in Antwerp with Hospital and RA. This Saturday Hunting & Collecting will open in Brussels and last weekend another gallery-store opened in Belgium’s fashion capital Antwerp: Graanmarkt 13.
Graanmarkt 13 is a three floor gallery-store in a beautiful mansion behind the fashionable Leopoldstreet in Antwerp. The ground floor invites you to discover fashion with an extra – well-known labels but even new, upcoming designers. Women’s wear (Sandrina Fasoli, Alexander Wang, Thakoon, Indress,…) sits next to must-have accessories (Bibi van der Velden, Isaac Reina,…) exclusive perfumes (Parfum Francis,…) and handmade design objects (Vlaemsch, When Objects Work, Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum). Read the rest of this entry »
6
Feb
2010
Feb
2010
Tailoring à la carte
Everybody in Belgium knows Van Gils and even across the borders it will ring some bells. This classical suit brand boomed in the eighties. Shoulder pads anyone? It even had a male cologne which was pioneering in these days. And now it’s their offspring’s turn to do some pioneering. And yes, they’re really good at it! Bruno Van Gils gathered his two nieces Saskia and Angelique and together they started ‘Café Costume’. This made to measure concept focusesses on young sartorial addicts who want the luxury of a made to measure suit but whose yearly bonusses are not yet upon that level to splurge on Brioni or Kiton suits. But don’t expect a cheap fabric design knock-off. They use fabrics from e.g. Scabal, Loro Piana and Ermengildo Zegna.
6
Feb
2010
Feb
2010
Acne flagship store in Antwerp
Swedish arty fashion brand Acne will open its first flagship in Belgium. And of course it will be in Antwerp. Marjan Eggers, owner of Louis (thé store in Antwerp if you want to splurge on Rick Owens, Balenciaga, Martin Margiela,…) collaborates with the übercool brand (that started out as a jeans brand but is nowadays a worthy ready-to-wear collection) and opens the the store in the Lombardenvest. Exact opening still has to be confirmed.
© I love Belgium
3
Feb
2010
Feb
2010
Atelier 11 summer-2010
Nature is a recurrent theme for Antwerp based Belgian jewellery collective Atelier 11. Their Summer 2010 collection puts nature’s most intriguing species on a pedestal: the insects. Silver hangers with black and yellow prints of bees and wasps, real butterfly wings make outspoken earrings and lace-like silver butterfly rings are spray-painted in shocking pink. They’ve also used the shiny shells of the jewel beetle (also used by Belgian contemporary artist Jan Fabre). The green shells are incorporated in medallions or become gem-like hangers. Read the rest of this entry »
31
Jan
2010
Jan
2010
RA13
Belgium’s fashion capital Antwerp has a brand new fashionista refuge: RA13. The two-level store also houses a gallery, a book shop and a restaurant. They sell end-year collections of students of the Antwerp Fashion Academy and high end brands such as Gareth Pugh, Givenchy and Damir Doma. You can also find less pricey brands like Ute Ploier and Henrik Vibskov who have great street credibility or you can go wild for some rare high end vintage finds from Hermès, Dior or Courrèges. Read the rest of this entry »
