Richly illustrated, this book celebrates 40 years of the Antwerp Six and their enduring impact on fashion images. This richly illustrated book celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Antwerp Six – the groundbreaking designers Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs, and Marina Yee – and explores the unique creative journey that connects them. Featuring insightful essays by leading fashion experts including Tim Blanks, Angelo Flaccavento, Eugene Rabkin, and Oscar van den Boogaard, the volume offers an in-depth look at the lasting impact of these iconic designers on contemporary fashion. “And they changed fashion. Because of the Antwerp Six, Belgium became known as the center of fashion creativity. Because of them, would-be designers from all over the world went to Belgium to be trained. Because of them, chief executives of fashion brands started looking for Belgian schools on the résumés of the creative directors they hired. In fact, most of the power players of the fashion world have a lineage that can be traced directly back to the Antwerp Six. Specifically: the current creative directors of Gucci, Chanel, Versace, Tom Ford, Marni, Saint Laurent, Maison Margiela, Prada, Diesel, Balmain and Rabanne all came through the Belgian school system or the Belgian mentorship system, or both.” -- Vanessa Friedman ― The New York Times "...arrives 40 years after the group received its myth-making moniker. [And the first] to consider the intersection, enduring resonance, and individual trajectories of these unique designers: graduates of the fashion course at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp who, together with Martin Margiela, managed to disrupt the Paris and Milan fashion scenes with their own sartorial radicalism." ― Exhibition review, W Magazine “...documents a transformative era in fashion, demonstrates the power of original storytelling, exalts six unique personalities and careers — and serves as a potent rallying cry for unfettered, unrushed creativity.” ― Exhibition review, Women’s Wear Daily "Despite their varying design vocabularies and career twists and turns…the group’s legacy of individualism is in stark contrast to the current culture of high fashion as mainstream entertainment." ― Exhibition review, Wallpaper* "At a time when fashion feels at its most culturally relevant, it also often feels at its blandest. The result is renewed interest in a recent past that was more receptive to outsider creativity, of which The Antwerp Six were a centerpiece." -- Eugene Rabkin ― The Financial Times "In March 1986 six young fashion designers from Antwerp loaded up a van with their work and drove across the English Channel to participate at the British Designers Show at London’s Olympia. Little did they know that they were on the cusp of a major fashion moment. At the time “Belgium” and “fashion” were not words that one pronounced in the same sentence. Today, the legend of “The Antwerp Six” is known to many fashion enthusiasts." -- Eugene Rabkin ― The Financial Times Geert Bruloot : Known for being the key person who organized "The Antwerp Six" for their breakthrough presentations in London, Geert Bruloot co-founded the Flanders Fashion Institute and the ModeNatie project, two of the main fashion organizations in Belgium. Romy Cockx is a curator at MoMu – Fashion Museum Antwerp. She studied history at the University of Antwerp and has worked as a project coordinator for the Archive Centre for Women’s History and as a curator at Fashion Museum Hasselt in Belgium. Kaat Debo is director of the Antwerp Fashion Museum MoMu. Debo studied literature and philosophy in Antwerp and Berlin, and joined MoMu in 2001 as a curator working on the museum’s exhibition policy. From 2007 to 2008 she was editor-in-chief of A Magazine , and in 2009 she was appointed director of MoMu.