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Arts Intel Report

The Antwerp Six

Dries Van Noten, Spring–Summer 2008 collection.

Mar 28, 2026 – Jan 17, 2027

In 1986, six graduates of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts loaded a van, drove to London, and showed their collections at the British Designer Show. They had no backing, no appointments, and no obvious reason to succeed. Their names were Dirk Bikkembergs, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, and Marina Yee. Within days the spotlight found them. For the first time, a major exhibition traces their shared education and the wildly divergent solo careers born of that single improbable trip. —Elena Clavarino

Photo: Marleen Daniëls