Year of fashion events to honour legendary Antwerp Six designers
Antwerp has declared 2026 “fashion year” as it marks the 40th anniversary of the international breakthrough of the Antwerp Six, the designers who brought the city to the world’s attention. The highlight will be an exhibition about the designers at the Fashion Museum (MoMu).
Dirk Bikkembergs, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene and Marina Yee, who died at the end of last year, graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in the early 1980s.
They received a boost from a government programme aimed at revitalising the Belgian fashion and textile sector, and in 1986 they took the international press by storm at London Fashion Week. They then went their separate ways and built impressive careers in their own names and for major fashion houses.
"The Antwerp Six helped shape recent fashion history"
From 28 March until January, MoMu is putting the spotlight on the Six, their shared history, the spirit of the times in which they broke through and their later individual achievements. The exhibition is accompanied by two books: an authorised biography and a collection of illustrations and essays on the impact they had on the contemporary fashion world.
“The Antwerp Six helped shape recent fashion history,” says Kaat Debo, the director of MoMu. “We are immensely proud that we can bring the work of these six iconic designers together for a unique, in-depth view of their legacy and their influence.”
In June, the Antwerp.Fashion Festival will put the current generation of designers, fashion talents and brands in the spotlight at shows, exhibitions and events across the city.
The organisers want to give both young and established talents in the sector more visibility and strengthen Antwerp’s position as a leading fashion city internationally, while time lowering the threshold to the sector.
#FlandersNewsService | The Antwerp Six in 1987, published in WWD © PHOTO PHILIPPE COSTES
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