OOR STORE X GASM, OR? – the ravewear label you need to know right now
Take the vibe of a techno club at 4 am, a touch of 90s nostalgia and humor, paired with a…
Images courtesy of GASM, OR? Words by Antonia Mittmann and Ann-Kathrin Riedl
IN CONVERSATION WITH WALTER VAN BEIRENDONCK
“I still have things to say”
Van Beirendonck, has been creating unique and unconventional men’s fashion for over forty years. He is a member of the Antwerp Six, a group of Belgian designers who, in the mid-1980s, turned Antwerp, Belgium’s second largest city, into a surprising fashion hub. Van Beirendonck, an alumnus of Antwerp’s prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts, currently serves as its Fashion School Director and is a mentor to many designers such as Craig Green, Bernhard Willhelm, and Kris Van Assche, the Creative Director of Berluti.
He has collaborated with a diverse range of artists including Rei Kawakubo, the founder of Comme des Garçons; Austrian conceptual artist Erwin Wurm; French artist Orlan; the Irish rock band U2; and Australian industrial designer Marc Newson. Often credited with introducing a new aesthetic, Van Beirendonck began his career in 1982 at the age of 25, challenging the conventional men’s wear of the time, which primarily consisted of traditional tweeds, wools, and cottons. He broke from these norms by combining futuristic sportswear fabrics with the high-level craftsmanship he mastered at the Royal Academy, infusing his designs with a playful, childlike sense of humor while also drawing on darker themes from B.D.S.M. and Punk Rock culture.
Walter, you are one of the infamous “Antwerp Six”, how has your artistic approach evolved over the years? What is or was your biggest drive?
From the beginning, during my studies and afterwards when we were the ‘Antwerp Six’ i was always loyal to my style and I developed over the years a very recognizable signature, and collections and products where I am proud of. My drive is the feeling and the confirmation to be still relevant, even for a young new generation, and the fact that I still have things to say, gives me also energy.
You are teaching at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, how would you summarize the guiding principles you would like to give your students? What is important for the future of fashion and the people who want to shape it?
In Belgium after 65 you are not allowed anymore to be a teacher in a public school so 2 years ago, at 65,i left the Antwerp Fashion department still miss teaching today, but more new teaching adventures in the future! I always tell to students: Be brave, believe in yourself, believe in your power and creativity. It’s your life, it’s your game Play it tough but fair BE AN ORIGINAL!
What is fashion currently lacking?
POWER and CREATIVITY And youth cultures = Fashion statements and evolutions that are coming from the ’street’ are really not there anymore.
“Be brave, believe in yourself, believe in your power and creativity. It’s your life, it’s your game Play it tough but fair BE AN ORIGINAL!”
For your current SS25 collection, which you showed last week in Paris, you also created some designs in collaboration with the Dutch brand G-Star. How did the collaboration come about and why is G-Star a good fit for WVB?
G-Star invited me for a collaboration and I got completely ‘carte blanche’. I decided to go ahead with a long time idea I had, An idea, which I was not able to realize financially as independent designer. I feel really frustrated that making garments, Hardly evolved over the years Nobody is trying to come up with new techniques or a replacement for the stitching machines. The only thing that fashion industry is doing to keep production-prices LOW, Is travelling the world (from local, to Europe, to Asia, to China…) ‘Mis-using’ people with their stitching machines. So I worked on a FUTURE PROOF concept, An idea To make garments much more sustainable and future directed By using laser cutting, glueing and taping instead of traditional stitching techniques. All words and balls are EMBOSSED in the jeans STITCH LESS, MACHI, NEW HANDMADE, WOW This is a statement, To let people think and make conclusions regarding the actual state of the fashion-world JEANS WITH BALLS, And something to say! I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE… In my own collection for a/w 2025 I added a series of clothing in Alcantara, All shapes from this garments are Laser CUT and than put together with a simple technic, WITHOUT stitching = real puzzle pieces, with multiple possibilities to wear.
One of the slogans on the designs is “Future Proof” – what does that mean?
See previous answer.
In the collection we see 3D elements and glued seams, for example, what were your approaches?
See previous answer.
When we think of advanced technologies, which ones would you like to combine with fashion?
3D PRINTING for WEARABLE garments High time that technology finds right materials that can be 3D printed, and used for actual garments that can be comfortably worn.
What do you wish for the future of fashion and for yourself personally?
That indépendant fashion designers keep on fighting the ‘agressivity’ of the (so called) ‘luxury’ houses,
And can survive! And I keep on going as independent fashion designer, last one standing from the ANTWERP SIX!
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