The Tamesis
By the time they went to London – unlike other new students at the time – the six had already begun practicing crafting their own brand identity. They came up with it proactively in class. “We weren’t taught that. Everyone had their own photographer that we found in school. All these teams were formed together at the time. Of course, Ann Demeulemeester already had her boyfriend, Patrick Robyn.”
Demeulemeester and Robyn were married before she started her own label. His evocative photography capturing many of the designer’s early collections is featured throughout the exhibition and accompanying book. Their son Victor Robyn is the graphic designer for the exhibition, and many remember him as a child walking with his mother at the end of Paris fashion shows in the 1990s.
Demulmister herself was standing in the dark room of her design. Tall, thin black silhouettes emerge from the darkness standing on a smoky mirrored platform. Bias-cut maxi skirts, sliding belts, feathered jewellery, elegant asymmetrical jackets, shimmering metallic knits. “I wanted a night-like atmosphere, with the silhouette standing on the water. And the moonlight was very cold.”
It embodies everything about Demeuleemester’s passionate career – her integrity, the integrity of the world she created until she left her brand in 2014 to pursue her art and furniture projects. “I choose them like I choose my friends, okay, yeah, let’s take her. Let’s take him. Not thinking too much about it,” she smiled. “Just showing the real thing, the clothes. What’s the theme of Ann Demeuleemeester.”
Walter Van Beirendonck was a year ahead of the rest of his classmates at the academy, and was in the same class as Martin Margiela. “It was great because we both came from a small village and didn’t know what to expect at school.” In fact, the only spark that sparked each other – and joining Antwerp’s underground performance scene (in the case of Van Berendonck) – was the determination to be completely ourselves. His cheerful, colorful, playful collections are groundbreaking statements of queer pride in dark times, advocating for safe sex and anti-racism. They are as influential now as they were in the late 1980s, in fact they have become a collector’s craze today. “For me, it’s not just about making clothes, it’s about telling stories and showing engagement with the world.” In the exhibition, a digital “Walter” face is embedded in the hoodie, which converses with Puk-Puk, an imaginary robot friend standing opposite. Walter’s cheerful face brings hope of creativity to a new generation facing difficult times.
