Adventures in Antwerp

Most fashion enthusiasts will know that Antwerp is a one of the world’s hottest hotbed of designer talent.  Don’t think I need to list the names that are based in Antwerp or have come out of the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts – but Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Bernhard Willhelm, Christian Wijnants, Haider Ackermann, Martin Margiela,  Raf Simons and the three Dirks (Bikembergs, Schonberger, Van Saene) are just a few that come to mind.  But how many people would consider going to Antwerp as an alternative to say Paris or London?   

I have now been to Antwerp twice and find it to be one of the most therapeutic shopping destinations.  Because of it’s size, everything is compacted into a small-ish area and it’s just very relaxed.  At first glance, it can seem like a sleepy small town, and you do wonder ‘Hold on, THIS is supposed to be this coolest of the cool?!’ (Ok I was the one who had those reservations….only because I had just stepped off a vomit-infested grubby Eurostar train on a muggy rainy day).   

But the day brightened up when I began to explore what Antwerp had to offer.  I stayed at this really cool bed and breakfast called Bed, Bad and Brood (scrumptious breakfast, lovely belle epoque style house with exquisite furnishings and really helpful owners too….best bit?  The bath tub with lion’s feet). 

Antwerp may be a koekenstad (Cookie Town) as in it’s smaller than most towns but when walking, it does feel awfully big.  As I was consuming 5000 calories a day with all those fries, pastries and sandwiches, walking everywhere was definitely a good thing!  So where was all the walking taking me? Why the shops of course! 

i) The places I browsed and admired everything and then cried about afterwards because I couldn’t afford diddly squat.

Ann Demeulemeester  >> No introductions needed here.  I love the element of surprise in her clothes and the interesting shapes she seems to consistently churn out.  Her shop is just across from the Royal Museum of Fine Art and is a wonderful space with very helpful assistants – they even invited me to this fashion party in the Falconplein area because they liked my outfit!  Too bad I was leaving in two days.   

Dries Van Noten  >> What can I say that hasn’t already been said a million times before?  His clothes combine the best elements of the old and new and are just so well-crafted and thought out.  Much like his flagship store Het Modepaleis on the corner of Nationalestraat.  Another Belle Epoque beauty and the interior is just so lush – I’m only sorry that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures.  The store also offers a large range of beauty products for men and women if you can’t afford the whole clothes shibang (I think it’s exclusive to the flagship too!)       

Walter >> On Sint Antoniusstraat, this is the freaking coolest shop I’ve seen, created by Walter Van Beirendonck and Dirk Van Saene, two of the original ‘Antwerp Six’.  This is more like a gallery than an actual retail space – all the better to ogle at everything in amazement.  I mean, there’s a giant robotic monkey and a reclining giant bear (below) in the store!  It stocks Bernhard Willhelm Bruno Pieters and Tim Van Steenbergen as well as foreign labels like Cosmic Wonder, Eley Kishimoto and Jessica Ogden. 

ii) The places where splurging is fine as long as it isn’t a shop which you’d find back home i.e. vintage/modestly priced boutiques

Antwerp offers a varied selection of vintage and designer consignment stores.  My faves include:

Episode on Steenhouwersvest – literally a cave of vintage clothes.  I think people watching is the best thing about this place.  Somehow hipsters and scenesters in Belgium aren’t half as annoying as the ones in London.  Oh, and there are a few bargains to be had – all around the €10-20 mark. 

For a more bizarre take on vintage, head to Naughty I on Kammenstraat.  If the window dressings are anything to go by, you are likely to come out looking loopily and excitingly mismatched. 

On the same street is the coolest streetwear store I’ve ever encountered – Fish and Chips.  It’s like a Urban Outfitters on acid.  In house DJ’s, and lots of UV light.  I would say it’s like a youngsters lifestyle supermarket – what you’re buying into isn’t fantastic but you feel great when you’re buying into it.   Stocks labels like Boxfresh, Adidas, Von Dutch, Mambo, Dickies, Stussy, Miss Sixty.  I liked all the lifestyle stuff though – especially all the Japanese import toys.

Once you’ve finished reliving your youth on Kammenstraat, I would head over to Labels Inc on Aalmoezenierstraat for a more grown up shopping experience.  This is one of the most varied designer consignment stores I’ve seen in a while.  Lots of stuff by the Antwerp Six to be found (which in itself is probably not too exciting for Antwerpians but for someone like me, it’s like ‘Oh yes, Christmas has come early!’).  I also spotted Marni, Jean Paul Gaultier, Balenciaga and other fashion bigwigs.  I picked up a few Margiela basics here. 

I’ve saved the best until last.  The raison d’etre in Antwerp is fashion and fashion in all it’s glory is transplanted into the ModeNatie – which holds the MOMU, the fashion department of Hogeschool Antwerpen but also the chic Brasserie National and a great fashion bookstore called Copyright. 

  I wasn’t allowed to take too many photos but they did have these displays dedicated to fashion heritage of Antwerp so with my discretion, I took some pics:

And now I’m planning to go again for the Yohji Yamamoto Dream Shop that Fashionologie very quickly alerted me to!  I might even make my visit to coincide with the Royal Academy’s Modeshow 2006 in June – tickets go on sale 1st of May!  Oh how marvellous that weekend will be!

All that’s left to do is to conclude this travel write up with one thing: GO VISIT ANTWERP!