Working on the Antwerp poster series has been a tremendous pleasure. One last thought for Brecht Vandenbroucke, the super-talented illustrator who designed the Street poster (below). Ben, Turnleft’s Art Director, was familiar with his work and I had seen Brecht’s cover for the Vice Summer guide (Benelux edition). By the time we saw the sketch of his proposed poster, we couldn’t wait to see it in print. To me it balances Antwerp’s ice-cold image – often conveyed by its fashion capital status – with a fun and festive representation of the city. It was also interesting to know that all Belgian grown-ups have fond memories of childhood visits to the Antwerp Zoo so here it is, our final recommendation (Koningin Astridplein 26, behind Centraal Station).

We are already working on our next edition, maybe Fall-Winter 09-10 or Spring-Summer 10 at the latest. Contact us if you want to take part! nick at turnleftguides dot com (publisher & editor-in-chief)

A few credits:
Art director Ben Freeman
Creative consultant Johannes Reponen
Posters & illustration Jarno Kettunen | Brecht Vandenbroucke
Photography Donatien Veismann
Style Ruben Debuck
Hair and make-up Géraldine Niego
Photography assistant Jeroen Vissie
Models Seppe & Steve @ New Models
Special thanks Inge Bauwens, Andrea Cammarosano, Igor Daems, Miek De Roeck, Rob Driessen, David Flamée, Hein Knapen, Harald Ligtvoet, Dawn Page, Bert Vercamer & many others

All content © 2009 www.turnleftguides.com

We’re in a recession and even if we’re loath to admit it publicly, for most of us budgets can’t stretch to this season’s luxury must-haves (sigh). Fortunately there are not many other cities with such a selection of vintage and second-hand fashion stores. And we’re not talking Beyond Retro here. Antwerp is proving a gem for vintage women’s fashion but there’s always a railing or two with menswear…

Tiny Labels Inc. is a great place to find collections from the previous seasons and they stock most of the Antwerp labels; it’s not a big space and you’ll rub shoulders (or scratch eyeballs) with the cream of the Antwerp fashion scene. Furniture + Clothing Selection (FCS) is a friendly vintage store, quiet upmarket, great for fashion and design. For second-hand fashion and casualwear, head to Episode or T2: Think Twice.

[update: RA13 opening this October - see previous posts - will also feature a vintage section]

Episode Steenhouwersvest 34a, Furniture + Clothing Selection Timmerwerfstraat 8, Labels Inc. Aalmoezenierstraat 4, RA13 Kloosterstraat 13, T2: Think Twice Lange Klarenstraat 21

The spectacular conversion of former horsestables into the Hospital concept store establishes this corner of Zuid as the new frontier for upscale fashion. Located opposite Clinic (more casual), Hospital features a classic Mercedes convertible in the middle of its space, a wine cellar by a leading sommelier and a bar terrace fronting De Burburestraat. Even by Antwerp’s high-fashion standards, there is something extravagant about this space (in a good industrial chic way) but in contrast to other stores Hospital extends its menswear and womenswear collection beyond the statutory Antwerp labels: Alexander Mc Queen, Viktor and Rolf, Marc Jacobs, etc… What’s striking is how friendly Hopsital is, in line with the urban deluxe feel of the multibrand collection. The stoicism of its chiseled team is admirable: we ran part of our photo shoot there (and it took a bit longer than planned) but they didn’t bat an eyelash when the entire Turnleft circus rearranged the furniture and almost broke a mannequin… Some of the outbuildings will be converted into a 3-room bed & breakfast at some point next year – we will keep you posted!

Hospital De Burburestraat 4

We are now addressing the biggest Dutch-Flemish controversy since the Scheldt dredging boycott: who buit the first European skyscraper? According to our panel of architecture experts, Rotterdam may have brought the concept to the continent but Antwerp’s Boerentoren (now the KBC Tower) was Europe’s first residential high-rise: it was built in 1932, after the 1930 Antwerp Universal Exhibition and just before Rotterdam’s Parklaan building (1933).

We’re clearly Team Antwerp on this one, even if Parklaan’s spectacular glass-fronted apartments remain the ultimate residential fantasy. In contrast the Boerentoren is now just an office block. It is a beautiful building though, with Empire State proportions and Zaal Jacob round the corner for a good night out. But in fairness to Centrepoint and Tour Montparnasse, could we call it a mid-rise building (it is only 97m high)?

Turnleft always makes every endeavour to feature mostly small, independent venues. This is particularly true for hotels – we can’t stand Caesar Salads in identikit hotel chains. The whole team has developed a fondness for small bed & breakfasts and they don’t come better than in Benelux, probably because buildings are so small and narrow – we’ve already featured Hooy Kaye Lodge (Brussels) and Lute Suites (Amsterdam) in previous guides (it would be more difficult to establish an intimate hotel in an Haussmannian building). Dutch designer Analik’s Miauw in Antwerp and Amsterdam revolves around 3 ideas set within the same premises: a bed & breakfast (Miauw Suites), a concept store with a rotation of fashion, design and art displays (Miauw Shop) and a creative agency (Miauw Projects). The Antwerp building is not necessarily Unesco World Heritage material but its corner location allows for a view over Marnixplaats and a 270-degree exposure in each suite, each of them a staggering 70sqm. And at this stage we need to mention that Miauw is located between 2 of the city’s best restaurants: Fiskebar at 12 (fish and seafood canteen, great wine list) and Lucy Chang at 16 (everyone’s favourite pan-Asian eatery in Antwerp – see previous posts).

Fiskebar Marnixplaats 12, Miauw Marnixplaats 14, Lucy Chang Marnixplaats 16

An unusual post but I’ve noticed that for some reason, many of our readers are in Singapore: the National Museum of Singapore has a temporary exhibitions that juxtaposes the Old Flemish Masters with the leading names of the Antwerp contemporary art scene.

A Story of the Image: Old & New Masters From Antwerp was in Antwerp 2 years ago and in Shanghai last summer. Many of the Old Masters on loan from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp (KMSKA) and the Museum of Plantin-Moretus are in Asia for the first time. This includes artworks by Breughel, Brouwer, Rubens and Van Dyck. The contemporary collection on loan from M HKA reads like the Who’s Who of the Belgian art scene: Luc Tuymans, David Claerbout, Francis Alys, Marlene Dumas, Berlinde de Bruyckere, etc.

National Museum of Singapore Stamford Road, 14 Aug-31 Oct

It is an incredibly busy week for the unpronounceable Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen (or M HKA, a.k.a MuHKA) – Antwerp’s museum of contemporary art. The museum reopens on 10 September and on 12 September its Film & Media department becomes Cinema Zuid.

The leading exhibtion remains the updated collection – Collectie XXIV (11 Sep-28 Feb) – but September brings a set of new shows on each floor of the building: Lonely at The Top (11 Sep-8 Nov), T_Tris (12 Sep-29 Nov) and Despues del Arte (2 Oct-15 Nov). Textiles Art and the Social Fabric (11 Sep-3 Jan) is this season’s leading group exhibition – an exploration of the use of textiles in art as a vehicle of social and political expression.

M HKA Leuvenstraat 32, Cinema Zuid Lakenstraat 14

We owe Sonny Vandevelde a small apology. We featured his work in a previous Antwerp guide but somehow we messed up the fashion captions and ended up crediting another photographer… Sydneysider Sonny is a fixture of the European fashion circuit and his photography work backstage brings a colourful, no-nonsense perspective to the mayhem that surrounds fashion shows. We’re big fans of his work – his exhibition, BACKSTAGE, opens in New York this Thursday.

Below, backstage at Bruno Pieters & an extract of our Antwerp guide.

BACKSTAGE, Sonny Vandevelde. Tribeca Grand Hotel, 2 Avenue of the Americas. 10 Sep – 30 Sep (opening 13 Sep)

We were about to run into trouble by suggesting Brussels-based Pierre Marcolini as Antwerp’s finest purveyor of chocolate, only to remember that Antwerp has amazing chocolate-makers of its own, including Del Rey (Marcolini-trained) and Goossens (below: kamasutra chocolate)…

Del Rey Appelmansstraat 5, Goossens Isabellalei 6