Fashion! Antwerp! Academy!: 50 years of Fashion Academy

The Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp is undoubtedly one of the world’s most prestigious fashion design schools. The Fashion Department, dedicated to fashion and theatre costume design was, founded 50 years ago by Mary Prijot. From the 1980s, under the inspired leadership of Linda Loppa and Walter Van Beirendonck, respectively, the school underwent unprecedented internationalisation and professionalisation. The generation of Martin Margiela and the Antwerp Six —Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs, Walter Van Beirendonck and Marina Yee — played a crucial role in this process. This book takes a closer look at the 50-year history of the Antwerp Fashion Department, its exceptional educational methodology, the annual year-end fashion shows and the work of its various generations of graduates, including such resounding names as Veronique Branquinho, An Vandevorst and Filip Arickx (A.F. Vandevorst), Bernhard Willhelm, Peter Philips, Olivier Rizzo, Bruno Pieters, Kris Van Assche, Christian Wijnants, Peter Pilotto and Haider Ackermann, many of whom grew to become internationally admired designers, stylists, art directors or makeup artists, or to fill influential positions for or behind the scenes of the renowned fashion houses. With the help of unique written and visual documentation of the Antwerp Fashion Department, this book illustrates how it has been at the heart of the Antwerp fashion story for more than 50 years.