50,000 Antwerp poster zines are distributed in London, Brighton and Manchester between August and October 2009. The series features 2 fashion shoots by Parisian photographer Donatien Veismann and back posters by Jarno Kettunen and Brecht Vandenbroucke. If you can’t get hold of a copy download a pdf.

Antwerp Fashion (summer 09) Antwerp Street (summer 09)

Speical thanks to Tourism Flanders and Antwerp Tourism & Congress for making this happen. And don’t forget to try your luck on our competition – there’s a trip to Antwerp to be won courtesy of our partners VLM and Hilton.

ps: sincere (and embarrassed) apologies to fashion designer Julia Kim for mispelling her name twice in our credit captions…

Tags: Antwerp
No Comments » Saturday, August 15th, 2009

Publishing travel guides is not a walk in the park but blending a city editorial with a seasonal fashion shoot is not for the faint hearted. Of the many hazards, getting an art director, photographer, stylist, hair & make-up artists, models, assistants and clothes at the same place (and at the same time) is more nerve-wracking than negotiating a loan extension with the bank manager. We spent most of June praying for sunshine (never guaranteed in these shores) but those prayers were answered because the weather was exactly what our photographer was hoping for – not too cloudy but cloudy enough…

Give or take the odd tantrum – you know who you are – a last minute rush to catch the Linkeroever sunset and 3 lost cameras, it went rather well and we spent the next few weeks fine-tuning the texts and working on the design.

Special thanks to our sponsors and to all the team – more on each of them over the next 30 days – but also to Rob Driessen at Hospital Concept Store, David Flamée at MoMu Fashion Museum and Sketch, Hein Knapen at Villa T and Bert Vercamer for drinks & dinner conversations.

Tags: Antwerp, Fashion
No Comments » Sunday, August 16th, 2009

The backdrop to our Antwerp series was Show2009, the annual graduation ceremony of the city’s prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts – its fashion school having produced some of the best fashion designers over the past 30 years, including Kris van Assche, Bruno Pieters and Bernhard Willhelm recently. The graduation shows have turned into a high-profile social event and we rubbed shoulders with the fashion aristocracy – the show is for serious fashion addicts and loving parents though, it started at 8pm and finished at 1am (we counted more than 900 outfits). We can’t name every Academy student but Alexandra Verschueren – whose collection was based on paper – gathered many prizes including the MoMu Award and the Fashion Flanders Institute Award.

The back poster by Jarno Kettunen (fashion series) was sketched backstage – it is inspired by Lenny Pier Ramos, a 2nd year student. We also recommend Show/Off – the Academy’s magazine. It can be ordered via Idea Books (ISBN 9789078980506) or through Antwerp Fashion.

Tags: Antwerp, Fashion
No Comments » Monday, August 17th, 2009

Antwerp has so many good art spaces – our guides only list a few. Atelier Solarshop is one of them – it’s barely a year old and located in a former solar panel shop not too far from Central Station… There’s always something new and September 2009 is a good time to visit – they’re running POP-UP throughout the month, a temporary shop and exhibition space that will feature artworks and limited series by artists, product designers and fashion/jewelry makers

Dambruggestraat, 2060 Antwerp. Mon-Sat, 11.00-19.00

Tags: Antwerp, Art, Design, Fashion
No Comments » Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Stumbling upon the work of Jarno Kettunen was a case of, this is the poster we want! Jarno’s backstage sketches have become a fixture of the fashion scenes in Antwerp and Paris so we asked him to draw a poster for us at Show2009. Amidst the chaos of a fashion show, the last thing needed is a spray paint incident – by the middle of the show someone on a near nervous breakdown screamed at Jarno asking him to leave the premises. In true Finnish style he took it with cool and dignity… another day in fashion mayhem!

Here’s Jarno in front an old hangar near Spark Noord (the area has many derelict warehouses) – and his recollection of the evening. Jarno’s favourite place for drinks is Absinthbar at Brasserie Appelmans, close to Groenplaats: Papenstraatje 1.

“ I arrived backstage with my assistant Nikita and it was a chaos of students, models, journalists, teachers, make-up artists and various hangers-on. Each student had a small slot, clothes were all over the place and I browsed around looking for interesting pieces to draw. Even the designers were hard to spot because many were modeling. Still, I met familiar faces. The people running the show can be difficult but I was given access to the menswear area. I set up my portable easel and all the materials including spray paint, gouache, acrylics and glitter gel. There were so many models hanging around – I asked a few of them to pose for me while Nikita was checking which clothes they were wearing. I always draw live models because they can pose the way I want, and I enjoy the personal interaction and the tension. When I draw I only look at the model and not at the paper. I managed to do about ten drawings. “

Tags: Antwerp, Art, Fashion
No Comments » Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Jeroen Vissie of Antwerp Fashion Observer was with us during the entire photoshoot. There was something missing in Antwerp until Jeroen – a big fan of websites such as Face Hunter and The Sartorialist – decided to set up his own site to capture Antwerp’s street style.

We selected a few images from his site – some user-submitted – and asked Jeroen to share some tips on the city:

Jeroen: “ This year’s shows were amazing… I started my blog in February, I got to know a few students and it was great to see their work completed. I was in the photographers’ corner and a few looks really blew my mind: Georgia Granata (2nd year), or Pierre-Antoine Vettorello and Astrid Michaelis (3rd year). I usually roam the streets of Antwerp a few hours here and there with my Nikon D60 and a kid lense. Antwerp is the coolest city in Belgium. For its size it has so much to offer. We have so many boutiques here and the nightlife has something for everyone. Just walk around – Nationalestraat is great for fashion, you also have great vintage stores like Episode and T2: Think Twice (I have little money). To chill just go by the river, when it’s sunny a lot of people are having a picnic. At night Café Capital has all the hipsters. Café d’Anvers and NOXX are more mainstream, and there are loads of fancy bars in the Old Town or in Zuid. On Thursdays clubs have free entrance (student night) and at weekends it’s never more than 10 euros”.

Episode, Steenhouwersvest 34a - T2: Think Twice, Lange Klarenstraat 21 – Cafe Capital, Rubenslei 37 – Cafe d’Anvers, Verversrui 15 - NOXX, Straatsburgdok – Noordkaai 3

Tags: Antwerp, Fashion
No Comments » Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Believe it or not, there’s a beach in Antwerp. It’s not Ipanema – in fact it’s just a sandy stretch on the Scheldt estuary facing what looks like a chemical plant and swimming is forbidden – but it seems that every Antwerp local has fond memories of Sint-Anna (or Anneke, “Little Anna”), be they legal or not… Getting there from the Old Town is half of the fun: Sint-Annatunnel runs under the river; from there it’s a 5-10min bicycle trip toward the camping site. The view toward ‘t Eilandje is amazing – including the new West Quay towers by British architect David Chipperfield, the future MAS museum (due to open in 2011) and various hangars from the old harbour.

Tags: Antwerp, Fashion
No Comments » Friday, August 21st, 2009

We don’t know your plans for Friday 11 September but we can only recommend Los Ninos. We made a similar post in our Brussels blog but this time the Los Ninos team leaves Brussels to invade Café Capital in the middle of Antwerp’s Stadspark. Café Capital is the city’s favourite venue for independent club nights. This is where Blast Your Ghetto is held once a month. Los Ninos promises an organic barbecue on the terrace followed by various DJ sets – Plum, The Michael, ShitDisco and Aguila – some of them in Antwerp for the first time. Belgian artist Dominique Masullo will be presenting his new video. As usual, organic drinks, etc… Starts 8pm, finishes 6am.

Tags: Antwerp, Art, Nightlife
No Comments » Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

Sips is probably one of the best cocktail bars I’ve ever been to – and I mean it. Chief bartender Manuel Wouters trained on the QE2 and Lazy Red Cheeks was first imagined there in 2005.This cocktail is amazing – vodka, crushed raspberries, violet syrup, cane sugar and a dash of lime juice… They should bottle this stuff and sell it at Selfridges!

Tags: Antwerp, Nightlife
No Comments » Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Antwerp’s love affair with concept stores is never ending – we’ve reviewed Walter, Clinic, Hospital and Fish&Chips in our guides. We are very excited at the prospectof RA, opening October 17 on Kloosterstraat, a street usually dedicated to antiques stores. At the risk of sounding dithyrambic, RA could well become one of the most exciting spots in European fashionland and it certainly reinvents the (now) dusty concept store formula. Set on 800sqm the space – which defines itself as a platform + store – will feature a fashion floor dedicated to young Academy graduates and up-and-coming labels (Belgian and international), a vintage section, art exhibitions and installations, a bookstore, a music corner and a social food space. Founders Romain Brau and Anna Kúshnerova, two recent Academy graduates, are determined to go grassroots and to build the concept around a series of collaborations. If Romain is anything to go by, RA won’t lack humour either – his assessment of the fashion scene is filled with self-deprecating modesty: “it’s so boring, I respect my parents for coming every year to watch my shows”.

The site is in construction and RA is determined to blend its physical space with an online presence. This will include RA Tidings, a monthly publication edited by Dan Thawley – of Dan the Scout fame (an excellent blog). Hopefully we will come back with a full update later in this blog, maybe an interview – RA Tidings is due this September. In the mean time you can follow progress on their Twitter @RA_13 and we’ve got a sneak preview of the premises (the cashier area is by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur).

The whole team can usually be found sipping coffee at Caffenation or at Berlin. Lucy Chang is their favourite restaurant. Erik Vanberghen, RA’s music director, often DJ’s at glam bar Mogador.

Berlin Kleine Markt 2 – Caffenation Hopland 64 - Lucy Chang Marnixplaats 16 - Mogador Graaf van Egmontstraat 57

Tags: Antwerp, Art, Design, Fashion, Food
No Comments » Monday, August 24th, 2009