The Antwerp Six are a group of

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

s who trained at

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

's Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 1980–1981 under Linda Loppa. The press began referring to them as a group beginning in about 1990 after the group in 1986 drove in a van from Belgium to present at a London tradeshow and unexpectedly made an impression.

Members

* Walter Van Beirendonck * Ann Demeulemeester * Dries Van Noten * Dirk Van Saene * Dirk Bikkembergs *Marina Yee

History

The

fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

collective presented a distinct, radical vision for

during the 1980s that established Antwerp as a notable location for fashion design. The breakthrough occurred in 1986 as the group rented a truck and set out for the

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London, England, twice a year, in June and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fash ...

with their collections. The reporters couldn't pronounce their names so began collectively referring to them as the Antwerp Six. Martin Margiela, another Belgian contemporary, was not actually part of the group that showed in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, although he is often mistakenly described as one of the Antwerp Six because he also emerged from the Antwerp scene immediately before the "Antwerp six" came to being. He subsequently moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, initially working for

Jean Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 June 1952) is a French haute couture and Ready-to-wear, prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs in ...

and then opening his own label.

References

External links

Fashion in Antwerp
from the Antwerp tourism office

* Antwerp Six Antwerp Six Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni {{Belgium-bio-stub