Inspiration
When I first applied to Parsons, I wrote a brief Artist Statement where I mentioned the Antwerp Six and how “I imagine myself sitting next to the Antwerp Six, hoping to be mistaken for their seventh member.” For this project, I plan to further research this group of six designers that helped me get into my own dream school.
The Antwerp Six consisted of designers Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Van Saene, Marina Yee, Dries Van Noten, Walter Van Beirendonck and Dirk Bikkembergs. They gained success quickly after graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. There is one particular event that pushed them into the eye of the international fashion industry, and how they put Antwerp, Belgium on the map as a global fashion capital. In 1986, all six of them packed up a van of all their individual collections and headed off to the London Fashion Week trade fair. However, when I went to research this huge trade fair of 1986 there was virtually nothing that documented/archived this particular event even though it was a huge turn for Belgian’s fashion industry. I plan to replicate/recreate facts and evidence that add to this seemingly nonexistent archive.
Featured image found here
Materials
- Fashion magazines/newspaper articles (like from WWD)
- Mood board/fabric swatches
- Sewing machine
- A garment
- Illustrator/Photoshop/Premiere Pro
- Optional: Paints/multimedia
Sketches
Will include one later.
In Relation to Exhibitions/Archives
The Clement Siatous exhibit gave me the idea that one’s own take on experiences/events is equivalent in truth in comparison to any “legitimate” government documentation. Since Siatous did not have any documentation of his own heritage, he responded by creating a series of portraits that depicted real events that he had experienced living on this island.
Research/Resources
I will use information from books/interviews created by the designers of this group as well as outside sources like WWD and online articles that will help me fabricate this event to something as believable as possible. Since there are no actual record of this trade fair occurring, I have to use the experiences of these designers that were there to establish a starting point and weave the pieces of history together.
Possible Bibliography
- The November 1, 2010, issue of WWD that includes their story
- Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck all have written books/done interviews talking about the Antwerp Six
Describe how you will address and include the visual conventions/tropes of the historical document to create “credibility” in your archive/project:
I plan to include mood boards/fabric collages and falsified WWD news articles/magazine articles the promote an Antwerp Six-inspired garment that I’ll be creating that will showcase at the “London Fashion Week trade fair of 1986.”
