Antwerp Fashion Festival puts Belgian design in the international spotlight
Antwerp Fashion Festival runs from 4 to 7 June, with more than 100 shows, installations and performances staged across the city. The event is designed to showcase Belgian fashion talent to both international industry professionals and a wider public, reinforcing Antwerp’s position as a key European fashion hub.
Organised by the Flanders District of Creativity together with the City of Antwerp and MoMu, the festival has again attracted strong international interest. “Yesterday, about 50 foreign journalists and a group of buyers arrived to view the shows and installations by our designers,” said Stefan Ceunen of Flanders District of Creativity. “We even had to turn people away because there weren't enough seats.”
This year’s programme includes runway shows by Christian Wijnants, Jan-Jan Van Essche, Brandon Wen and Façon Jacmin, alongside installations by Julie Kegels and Florentina Leitner. Visual artist Tom Van der Borght is also contributing a large inflatable work installed at Antwerp Central Station.
Rather than competing directly with the hundreds of fashion weeks held worldwide, organisers have positioned the festival as a broader cultural event. Alongside industry-focused presentations, many activities are open to the public, reflecting an ambition to make Belgian fashion more accessible and to challenge perceptions of it as exclusive, expensive or difficult to approach.
The festival also coincides with continued interest in the “The Antwerp Six” exhibition at MoMu, marking 40 years since the designers helped place Belgian fashion on the international map. The exhibition remains highly popular and serves as a reminder of Antwerp’s enduring influence on global fashion.
End-of-year fashion shows
It is no coincidence that the end-of-year show of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp is also taking place this weekend. The academy has long been a key talent pipeline for the Belgian fashion sector and contributes to Antwerp’s international reputation.
Across Belgium, end-of-year fashion shows in Brussels, Ghent, Mechelen and Sint-Niklaas underline a broader shift in fashion education towards interdisciplinary and conceptual work. Students increasingly combine fashion with photography, performance, graphic design and other disciplines, while institutions such as KASK & Conservatorium and La Cambre encourage an approach that treats fashion as a cultural and artistic practice as much as a commercial one.
International ambitions meet funding concerns
The festival takes place against a backdrop of renewed debate on the internationalisation of Flemish higher education and its creative sectors.
The Flemish Government has introduced a rule limiting funding for students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to a maximum of 2 per cent of total enrolment per institution. The measure is expected to generate around 30.7 million euros for the government.
Many institutions exceed the 2 per cent threshold and will receive reduced or no operating funding for non-EEA students above that level, while costs remain unchanged. As a result, several schools are expected to significantly increase tuition fees for students from outside the EEA from the next academic year.
For a sector that relies heavily on international exchange, the timing is notable. Antwerp Fashion Festival is explicitly aimed at connecting local designers with international journalists, buyers and industry figures, while Belgian fashion schools have long benefited from attracting talent from around the world. Critics argue that higher costs for non-EEA students risk weakening the international networks and visibility that events such as the Antwerp Fashion Festival seek to strengthen.
#FlandersNewsService |Models present creations during the 'Show 2025' end of year fashion show showcasing the creations of students from the bachelor's and master's degree of the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts - AP Hogeschool, in Antwerp, Friday 06 June 2025. © BELGA PHOTO KRISTOF VAN ACCOM
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