The Antwerp Six is not the end: Belgium still has an internationally famed fashion reputation. Not only Antwerp is known, Brussels is also building a good reputation, something the government loves to back.
Broad support for Belgian fashion
The ‘Made in Belgium’ label represents high quality worldwide and Belgian fashion is studied across the globe as an example, according to trade paper Fashion Network. Over the past few years, Belgium has definitely managed to obtain international fame as the center of European fashion. The famous Antwerp fashion school is now joined by Brussels, which is something the government loves to support, according to fashion consultant Philippe Pourhashemi. The success garnered by the “I buy Belgian” campaigns shows that the population has broad support and pride for its own fashion, according to Fashion Network.
Government support for the industry is a clear stimulus, according to Pourhashemi. Fashion schools La Cambre and the Royal Academy for the Fine arts have local subsidies, but still enjoy a global reputation. Regional platforms like MAD, Flanders DC and Flanders Fashion Institute back fashion designers with a range of efforts: they promote Belgian talent at international conventions, organize congresses and hand out scholarships.
Pourhashemi believes Belgian designers represent an alternative and inventive style, because they do not have as many resources as the major French and Italian fashion labels. That is why Belgian designers are more creative, which has led to radical visions and theatrical catwalks like for Walter van Beirendonck and Olivier Theyskens.
