DRIES VAN NOTEN ‘INSPIRATIONS’ EXHIBITION IN ANTWERP: AN EVOLUTION

By Crash redaction

In 2014, the Dries Van Noten « Inspirations » exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris was the event of the year. Today, the Fashion Museum Antwerp (MoMu) hosts a new version of this exhibition to celebrate the Belgian designer’s artistic universe in his native town. The exhibition is presented as an intimate journey into Van Noten’s creative process and sources of inspiration, and differs from the content of the Parisian exhibition with new artworks and archive pieces by artists and couturiers the designer was inspired by throughout the years.

At the beginning of his career in the 1980s, Dries Van Noten was part of the « Antwerp Six » along with Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Bereidonck, Dirk Van Saene, Marina Yee and Dirk Bikkembergs, the famous group of young Belgian designers that were at the forefront of avant-garde fashion. Van Noten always has had an intimate, sensitive approach to fashion, which he creates from imaginary journeys and places inspired by actual folklores coming from the African or Indian continents and overall different cultures. Those inspirations are directly translated into fabric treatments and the choice of prints that always bring out an undeniable refinement in Van Noten’s clothing, both for his womenswear and menswear lines.

The Antwerp exhibition in displayed in a continuity of rooms representing Dries Van Noten’s collections throughout the years from his early 1980s work, juxtaposed with artworks and pieces that inspired him. Among them, archive clothing by Christian Dior or Elsa Schiaparelli and artworks by Yves Klein, Damien Hirst, Cecily Brown, Pablo Picasso or James Tissot recreate Dries Van Noten’s unique universe.

The exhibition opened on Feburary 13th and will continue until July 19th 2015

at the MoMu, Fashion Museum Antwerp

Nationalestraat 28, BE-2000 Antwerp, Belgium

www.momu.be

www.driesvannoten.com

Photo by Marjon Lefour – Show 81 Men Collection Summer 2013

Photo by Marleen Daniels – Show 16 Women Winter 1996-1997

Photo by Mathieu Ridelle – Show 66 Women Summer 2009

Photo by Olaf WipperfÅrth – Show 20 Women Winter 1997-1998

Photo by Patrice Stable – Show 75 Winter 2011-2012