23
May
2013
The story of Generous reads like a sweet fairytale. Co-founder of Christophe Harou wanted to find gluten free bread and pastry in Brussels because his doctor advised him to stop eating gluten and that’s how he ended up with Aurélie and Jean-Benoît at L’Arrière-Cuisine. Avid I Love Belgium readers may recall our raving review about their bakery. He became a regular customer at at their cute tea-room, started talking and brainstorming with Aurélie and Jean-Benoît and Generous was born. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: Belgian, cookies, generous, gluten free, Organic, pastry
6
May
2013
Finally we start seeing flowers everywhere in the street and on the fields so that’s why we dedicate this post to master florist Thierry Boutemy who just moved and opened a new shop in Brussels next to our favorite bakery Le Saint-Aulay (remember the gayest bakery in town?). Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: Brussels, Fashion, floral design, lanvin, Marie-Antoinette, Sofia Coppola, Thierry Boutemy, Viktor & Rolf
10
Apr
2013
Design circus to it’s fullest, that’s how you can describe the design week during the Salone Del Mobile. Star designers introduce their new products, of course edited by desirable design brands, and show their profitable smiles for the gathered international press. That’s why the I Love Belgium team is keen on talking about young Belgian design talents represented in the city of design and aperitivo! One of those is Ghent-based Maria Scarpulla who’s work are represented at Venture Lambrate. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Tom Tack - Tagged with: Design, Ghent, Lambrate, lamp, Maria Scarpulla, milan, young
9
Apr
2013
We played their as kids, spooked the hell out of our little sister or even stole our first kiss behind a wall overgrown with ivy. Empty buildings can be found everywhere. Sometimes they’re there because they belong to a noble family who cannot decide what to do with it, or they belong to a promoter not getting the right permissions to renovate, or they belong to the city who can’t find the funding or can’t decide what to do with it. But let’s be honest, they’re beautiful in their emptiness so why change them. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: château de noisy, kasteel van mesen, Miranda Castle, sanatorium tombeek, urban exploring
11
Mar
2013
If you have seen people in the streets of Paris with enormous eye bags a week ago, they must be fashion people exhausted of the fashion weeks they have been attending. No, not everyone’s last name is Wintour and gets chauffeured around in black cars with tainted windows. Most of the journalists, stylists, bloggers, buyers are random fashionistas walk, bike or take public transport (can you imagine!) to all the different fashion shows and presentations. And the real work still has to start! Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: A.F. Vandevorst, Anthony Vaccarello, dior, Dries Van Noten, Haider Ackermann, raf simons
8
Feb
2013
We don’t do it a lot, but when we do it we do it good! The I Love Belgium team is talking about the birth of a new Belgian design brand. Youngsters such as When Objects Work, Objekten, Tamawa, Feld and Studio Helder receive a new group member: Liparus! Just like I Love Belgium, Liparus’ mission is to promote Belgian designers worldwide by publicizing and selling their original, functional,ergonomic, aesthetic and high quality pieces. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Tom Tack
7
Feb
2013
Lovers of niche perfumes certainly know Edition de Parfum Frédéric Malle. After years of working as a consultant to some of the best French and International perfume companies Frédéric Malle decided in 2000 to embark on a singular venture to return perfumery to its luxury status by inviting nine top perfumers to create a perfume with complete creative and financial freedom and Edition de Parfum Frédéric Malle was born. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: Dries Van Noten, edition de parfum frédéric malle, Fashion, perfume
1
Feb
2013
What do Raf Simons, Catherine Deneuve, Richard Rogers, François Mitterand, The Belgian Royal Family and Valentino have in common? They all have worked together with landscape architect Jaques Wirtz! This contemporary landscape architect became renowned and praised for his sculpture like treatment of hedges. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Tom Tack - Tagged with: Architecture, dior, gardens, hedges, Landscaping, Wirtz
22
Dec
2012
With all the hype created for the H&M Maison Martin Margiela collection, people tend to forget that Belgium also has other designers. Yes there’s Dries, yes there’s Ann, yes there’s Raf, yes there’s A.F. Vandevorst,… But there’s a young wolfpack who are doing it for themselves even in difficult times as these. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Fashion, Glenn Martens, Krjst, la cambre, Léa Peckre, Royal Academy of Antwerp
6
Nov
2012
Belgian male super model Cesar Casier was one of the first people we interviewed on I Love Belgium. Back than we knew he wasn’t just a pretty face. This boy had ambition. And bucket list full of exciting projects! People who follow his blog will know he’s quite the cook. His healthy recipes were a big hit and one day he asked his readers: to cook book or not to cook book. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: Cesar Casier, Fashion, Food, Model Kitchen, models, US
28
Sep
2012
When we first laid eyes on the drawings of Brussels based illustrator Valentine De Cort, an instant childhood-like feeling prevailed. The soft colours, line drawings, sense of humour and playfulness catapults you back to a place where time passes slowly and worries are inexistant. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Tom Tack
23
Sep
2012
We’ve been following Piëtro and Jan-Jan from the beginning with their pop-up concept Atelier Solarshop. Their selection of vintage pieces and young designers always made our heart beat faster. So when we got the message that they blew up the pop-up concept to install a permanent creative platform for creatives and a gallery for young artists and designers, we immediately had butterflies in our stomachs. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: Atelier Solarshop, Design, Fashion, Jan-Jan Van Essche, Piëtro Celestina, vintage
12
Sep
2012
Last month we met up with Aurore Brun, a young Brussels based fashion designer who is taking things slow in a fast pace fashion business. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Ianthe De Boeck - Tagged with: Aurore Brun, Fashion, Illustration
18
Aug
2012
The best concepts are based on the simplest principles. A great example would be the work of the creative Jasbir Sandhu. Together with Axia Environment, she developed a collection of wearable art depicting a country’s identity. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: Art, Belgian, belgium, contemporary, Jewellery, JustSo
19
Jun
2012
Sometimes we mustn’t forget to put young talent in the spotlight. This time we’re proud to present: Trui Chielen. Unbelievable how some people can accomplish so much at a young age. Trui is a graphic designer and was already published two times in children books. In 2010 she was one of the winners in the ‘Good for Publishing’ competition of Flemish Illustrators. A lot of potential in that one, we say! Let’s take a look! Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Kristien Noblesse - Tagged with: drawings, Graphic Design, illustrations, Trui Chielen
18
Jun
2012
On our facebook page we did a tribute to the classic graphic design of Jules Destrooper cookies and were pleasantly surprised with how many of you shared our love for these typical Belgian cookies. What’s the source of this common love for a product? The vintage design, the nostalgic feelings, the taste or use of the particular product? We can’t really put our finger on what makes some brands so great. That’s why we wanted to dig deeper. We present to you: iconic Belgian Brands that make us tingle! Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Kristien Noblesse - Tagged with: bozar atoma, brands, cassonade graeffe, chocotoff, Delirium tremens, delvaux, logo, NMBS
13
Jun
2012
What do you get when you put a a talented photographer, an eccentric stylist and a colorful make-up artist in a room full of vintage high fashion pieces? Yes, a very crazy fashion shoot. When we were sent these pictures we were immediately mesmerized. The fact that we got an exclusive preview of them, makes us even more excited. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: Blast from the Past, Miaou, Philippe Pourhashemi, Tine Claerhout, vintage fashion
28
May
2012
It’s a bank holiday in Belgium and yes we have been slacking. Blame it on the weather, it’s 25 °C in our country and your I Love Belgium prefers being outside enjoying than inside blogging. One advantage: when we’re outside we discover things we can present to you! We will also be out and about the next weekends since the academy shows of the Belgian fashion academies are coming up. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: academy shows, Antwerp, Fashion, NU_Fashion
24
May
2012
Jogging alongside the quays in Antwerp, yes sometimes we do a little exercise, we were confronted with the 19,8 miles (3,2 kilometers) long wall of poetry from Peter Holvoet-Hanssen. Reading it while running, poetry turned out to be the ideal motivation to put in that extra mile. Charmed as we were with Holvoet-Hanssens tribute to Antwerp, we started thinking about other cities and their ways to incorporate poetry into the city landscape. And how poetry can change the urban view… Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Kristien Noblesse - Tagged with: Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, poetry, text art
10
May
2012
Do you know the Capara sisters? Their name sounds like an eccentric sister duo from a Tim Burton movie and I’m sure they would like the sound of that. Capara was founded in Antwerp by sisters Vera and Olivera Capara. Read the rest of this entry »
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Written by Stijn Verlinden - Tagged with: Antwerp, belgium, Capara, Dries Van Noten, Fashion, maison martin margiela, raf simons, Sisters
