Christian Wijnants
Christian Wijnants
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Christian Wijnants is an Antwerp-based fashion designer.
Born in Brussels, Christian moved to Antwerp in 1996 to study fashion design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. His graduate collection won the Dries Van Noten Award for best collection in 2000. After graduation, Christian presented his collection at the prestigious Festival d’Hyères, where it was awarded the Grand Prix and picked up by stores including Colette (Paris), Pineal Eye (London), and Via Bus Stop (Tokyo). After working with Van Noten in Antwerp and Angelo Tarlazzi in Paris, Christian launched his eponymous label in 2003.
Christian Wijnants presents his collections in Paris during Paris Fashion Week and is sold at boutiques and department stores worldwide including Barneys, Tomorrowland and Opening Ceremony.
Rich, layered graphics and fresh colors translated into eloquent knitwear offer a play of authenticity and luxury that has won him the 2013 International Woolmark Prize, the 2006 ANDAM Award, and the 2005 Swiss Textiles Award. Christian Wijnants is in collaboration with Swarovski for Spring-Summer 2016 and Autumn- Winter 2016 and has been nominated for Swarovski Collective Prize for Innovation.
Wijnants opened his first flagship store in Antwerp in September 2015.
HEAD OFFICE 215 Italiëlei bus 21 Antwerpen 2000 Belgium
36 Steenhouwersvest Antwerp 2000 Belgium
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Hemptees is a slow fashion brand with timeless high quality hemp clothing. Inspired by a slow lifestyle and a big heart for our oceans. We believe that every wildflower should feel free and comfortable in textiles that are good for the planet and good for people.
Our Story
Our little wildflower was born into an independent family. Her mother instilled in her a passion for art, textiles and natural materials. Her father travels (still does) around with his surf gear to catch the best wave. In 1982, he co-founded a textile distributor for sports brands. With this breeding ground, our little wildflower spread her seeds and Hemptees was born.
Lou De Buck, owner and founder of Hemptees, brings a consiously curated collection of her favorite versatile plant of all time, hemp. She draws her inspiration from music, cinema, travel and nature. She offers a mix of urban and coastal influences with a nod to modern nostalgia. Intuition and authenticity are always at the core of Hemptees aesthetic.
Hemptees appeals to fun-loving, free spirited and like-minded individuals and offers a range of clothing, home textiles and accessories with a focus on ethical, handmade and sustainable practices.
Sometimes you just need that good durable favorite and that’s when slow fashion is a great option. We want to do our part by offering sustainable clothing made from 100% hemp. An alternative textile that pollutes as little as possible and is better for people with sensitive skin.
My Ecological Lifestyle
My Ecological Lifestyle
The Power of Slow
Lou is excited about what the future holds and knows that this is just the beginning of Hemptees’ story.
Over the years, we have become acutely aware of how big our culture of waste is and how it has continued to grow. We live in a time where sustainability, equality and freedom are common themes. As a product-based brand, we are aware of more stuff’s impact on the environment, which is why we promote secondhand first and slow fashion second.
Affordable good basics for everyone is our driving force without compromising on quality and longevity.
Fashion is one of the biggest polluting industries, so we try to minimize our waste while providing you with beautiful timeless eco-friendly basics that you will cherish for years to come!
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BIO
LĒO is a Belgium-based brand that was established in 2016 by artistic director Leonneke Derksen (Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Belgium) and founder Matthias Medaer.
LĒO was created in Paris, while gaining experience at fashion houses like Balenciaga and Carven.
This period was the base on which the vision of the brand was born, as the team got in touch and ultimately became part of a new generation of young designers.
Moving LĒO to the center of Europe (Brussels, Belgium) was a natural outcome of the need for full dedication to the brand and focus on the quality of it’s product, which is produced exclusively in Europe.
VISION
LĒO embodies the energy between luxury, avant-garde and street wear.
Experience over time formed a brand-specific set of values which consist of dedication to self-expression, nostalgia and the desire to push boundaries and evoke excitement.
Inspiration comes from various worlds and aesthetics and combines eras, movements, atmospheres and subcultures, regardless of codes.
Ideas are found in the space between external and internal experience and research is extracted from unique experiences in between quotidien performances and memorable rare involvements.
The brand displays the mind of different generations and the dualities that lie within them.
Attitude, authenticity and honesty are the essence of the LĒO customer.
PRODUCT
At the core of all reflections lays a product which represents a balance of quality and originality.
These products are carfully placed in worlds in which the brand expresses an original take on ‘reality’ and its movements.
LĒO garments oppose seriousness with spontaneity and question common rules with creativity and curiousness.
Wearing LĒO implements appreciation for sophistication and uniqueness. Distinguished shapes turn through worked-out bleaching and dying technics into one of a kind garments for a one of a kind wearer.
LĒO embraces the awkwardness and accentuates it’s inherent potential for innovation which can be recognised in the choice of material and reccurent elements like metal details.
Each collection is a mix of unexpected and iconic elements with a touch of ‘‘no rule“ humor.
This fuse contains on one side traditional tailored or classic technical elements that breathe rationality and on the other side the element of surprise, instinct and emotion.
21-25, Rue Gheude Brussels 1070 Belgium
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ABOUT CESAR
In addition to being a model, food lover, traveler and proud author of my two cookbooks Model Kitchen and Cesar’s Kitchen and the travel guide Trippin, I have launched the Cesar Casier Knitwear Collection. While growing up, I was always surrounded by fashion. My mom owns a high-end fashion boutique “OONA” in Ghent and my stepmom is a fashion designer. They were my biggest influencers and shaped my views on fashion while growing up, the logical next step was to start my own collection.
100% MADE IN BELGIUM.
KNITWEAR COLLECTION
The Cesar Casier Knitwear Collection is 100% made in Belgium, something that is very rare nowadays. Everything I design is produced in a small family owned factory located in Sint-Niklaas, a city between Antwerp and my hometown Ghent. Fact is that back in the days there were about 300 factories located in this area and now there are only two left, a sad reality. Therefore, it is important to support the revival of Belgian knitwear as much as possible!
GENDER NEUTRAL FASHION
Next to my roots, my brand represents Gender Equality. A human right I hold dear and it is something I stand for. I translate this into my designs, as they are mostly unisex. I want my brand to lead the way in gender-neutral fashion. In my opinion, gender no longer dictates the way people dress and it does not force anyone into a box. That is why I try to design as much gender neutral pieces as possible, this allows us to express ourselves exactly the way we all want to. My designs are timeless, comfortable and basic, yet fashionable and with an eye for detail and great quality
CHARITY
I’ve always loved nature and even more, the animals who live in it. That’s why, for every sold item on my website, I’ll donate 1 euro to a charity. For my previous collection I’ve donated money to help save the dolphins, The Great Barrier Reef and the Giraffes in the wild. By donating money to a good cause, I want to send awareness to the public about the beauty of nature and to support animal and nature welfare!
Hubert Frere Orbanlaan 629 Ghent 9000 Belgium
Ziza Couture
Ziza CoutureInfo
COUTURE CRAFTSMANSHIP – HANDMADE & UNIQUE
WHAT CAN YOU GO TO ZIZA COUTURE FOR?
Bridal Dresses
Having your wedding dress made to measure is a very special, unique and strong process to really come to a dress that fully accentuates your beauty.
Party Dresses
You can come to Ziza Couture for a beautiful piece unique that matches who you are. A perfect fit and the right cut offers so many possibilities for every body.
CUSTOMIZED TRAINING
No ordinary sewing lessons, but learn to sew for yourself tailor-made. You can find the full curriculum at the bottom of this site.
HOW DOES CUSTOMIZATION WORK?
If you would like to have something custom made, we will make an appointment. We discuss what you would feel good about and which direction the design may take.
Then we look at how many passes will be needed. Depending on the design, I test the dress first, which ensures a perfect fit and cut.
In order to be able to work uniquely for everyone, I don’t have a stock of fabrics, but together we look for the most suitable materials.
Do you have any questions or would you like a first idea of the prices before you come by, send me a message or just give me a call.
ABOUT FASHION DESIGNER LINA
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Making people beautiful is my mission 😉
When I see someone, I immediately think in dresses, fabrics, colors. I don’t know myself differently, always looking for beauty in everyone and everything. Many thanks to my little golden fingers, that I can fulfill this job in this way.
For more than 10 years I have specialized in making and designing exclusive tailor-made clothing. I was educated with a master’s degree in fashion design, pattern drawing and haute couture embroidery.
ABOUT CUSTOMIZATION
“Customization is a process, an adventure. As a fashion designer, I listen and look, together we look for the right materials, fit and style. No ready-made dress code, but a unique piece that grows around you.
Customization has its price tag. But it has such beautiful and strong advantages: through customization, many more people can wear what they really dream of. Many pieces of clothing, whatever your figure, often don’t fit in ready-to-wear, even if you’d like to. Something that’s tailored is way more flattering anyway, whichever cut you prefer, simply because it fits. I often hear people say to me in the studio ‘I’ve dreamed of being long-dressed for so long, but I really didn’t think I had the figure for that’ or ‘I didn’t know that my figure looks so much better a proper cut’. Every body is so different and customization has so much to offer.
In the past years I have already drawn patterns and made and adapted designs for countless bodies. Accentuate what makes someone beautiful, envelop what feels vulnerable, look and listen. It has now become my specialization.
I don’t make collections, I like to work around a person. I mainly use the knowledge I gained with my master’s degree in fashion design to come up with original and unique designs that suit the customer, in addition to custom work.
A new vision on clothing, supportive in who we are, that’s what I’m going for.” lina
“We are all beautiful, just different”
Kolmenstraat 87 Stevoort 3512 Belgium
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BIO
els.mommaerts
// mode : collectie dames “els.mommaerts” prêt-à-porter , since 2011 // fashiondesigner “Kaat Tilley” Brussels (1993-2011) : design- assistant for women collections // opera ballet vlaanderen : kostuum supervisor Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, since 2018 // theatre, dance, opera :1997-2010 : costume designs & assistant : Opera Royal de Wallonie (Liège) : La Traviatta – Pol Pauwels : La familia, Othello – Rosas , Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker (Brussels): Repertoire evening , 20 years Rosas & Small Hands (out of the lie of no) & Rain &TG Stan, Rosas,Aka Moon (Brussels): In real time – Ultima Vez,Wim Vandekeybus (Brussels) : Scratching the Inner Fields & In as much as live is borrowed… & In spite of wishing and wanting – Troubleyn, Jan Fabre (Antwerp) : As long as the world needs a warrior’s soul & The fin comes a little bit earlier this siècle (but business as usual) – La cie Michèle Anne De Mey (Brussels) : La sacre en couleurs – Théatre Varia (Brussels): Nous,les héros (Philippe Sireuil) – Théatre de l’ancre (Mons) : Des couteaux dans les poules – Norrdans, Harnosand (Sweden): The space between – Alibi Collectief, Pat Van Hemelrijck (Brussels): Drie koningen in Patagonië & Los mansardinos // mother of Rosa, Jago and Omer // pers Bruzz 2013 (click) //
Koorstraat 32 rue du Choeur Molenbeek 1080 Belgium
Carine Gilson
Carine GilsonInfo
Atelier véritable
“As day subtly turns to night and the hours steadily string by, the dream, at once airy and elegant, comes within reach. Pleasurably palpable.” – Carine Gilson
Carine Gilson’s story harks back to the 1990s. A freshly-minted graduate of Antwerp’s prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts, where she studied fashion, Carine Gilson discovered Maille France, a small Brussels atelier that manufactured fine ladies’ underslips. She immediately fell in love with the world of lingerie.
Savoir-faire
Carine Gilson decided to acquire the workshop and, with sheer dedication, set out to work on silk, lace, and exceptional materials. In the fashion of the boundlessly creative and refined lingerie creations of yore, Carine Gilson embraced this new adventure, taking her passion to the next level to create unique, breathtaking pieces in her Brussels atelier.
Exceptional Creations
The designer soon launched her couture lingerie line, Carine Gilson, a synonym for a world filled with incomparable beauty.
In no time, the press and finer stores from Japan, England, Italy, and America came calling. Buyers from renowned stores recognized the rare quality of these creations, which conjure the bygone enchantment of times past within our changed, modern world.
The prestige of Carine Gilson’s lingerie has grown quickly thanks to the unwavering excellence of her creations. In the House of Carine Gilson, every piece is lovingly crafted by hand. Perfection and finesse espouse rigor and passion. Lace incrustation is raised to an art form.
Take Flight
2018 saw Carine Gilson soar to new heights, with a redesigned logo that captures her very essence: two light, delicate wings of a bird on the verge of spreading in a gentle, feathery stroke.
Her new boutique on Boulevard de Waterloo in Brussels was designed by architects David & Nicolas who, together, created a subtly polished space celebrating Carine Gilson’s unabashed femininity and unparalleled refinement.
Symbolic of this ascent with wings aloft, the ready-to-wear and couture collections have been developed to take on an evocative and delicate turn. Here, the exceptional always takes center stage. In her incomparable signature style, Carine Gilson now designs for day, evening, and night.
26 Boulevard de Waterloo Brussels 1000
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Since she was little, Jo De Visscher [°1976] is bitten by the fashion bug. She starts working with scraps of fabric which she turns into full silhouettes for her Barbie dolls and gets her mother to knit matching miniature sweaters.
While growing up, she sews her first skirts on an old sewing machine without having any formal training.
She studies maths and science and, as a teenager, becomes fascinated by an article on the restoration of the frescos in the Sistine Chapel. The article has such an impact on her that she decides to enrol in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, where she studies painting and specializes in restoration of contemporary art. She graduates in ’99, learns the ropes at the S.M.A.K., MuHKA and Kunstmuseum Bonn and finally starts her own restoration company (contemporary art conservation) in Brussels.
She’s asked to collaborate on the exhibition ‘Mutilate?-Vermink?’ — curated by Walter Van Beirendonck — at the MuHKA and this project rekindles her passion for fashion. Jo follows her heart, says goodbye to restoration and hello to fashion and clothing. She does an intensive course in pattern making, learns proper sewing properly this time and studies fashion design at night school. She also freelances for the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
In 2007, her final year show generates such a buzz that she decides to design and market her own ‘jodevisscher’ collection.
Hoornstraat 6 Gent 9000
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About us
SUITSHERWELL was founded by Gloria and Mandy Kourkouliotis, two sisters from Genk with Greek roots on their father’s side. Gloria is a political scientist with a heart for sustainability and ethical business. Mandy is a journalist and communication scientist by training. She writes for several lifestyle and interior design magazines. Together they form a strong ping pong team. Their youngest sister Xenia is still studying, but behind the screen of her smartphone she helps to map out the social media story. Her official introduction will follow soon.
Their minimalist tailor-made suit label combines quality with affordability and inclusiveness in the broadest sense of the word. They not only want to be a fashion label, but also a community that stands for openness, equality and female empowerment. With great respect for the female body in all its variants. From very slim to beautiful, round shapes. They’ve got you covered!
The own designs are sustainably and ethically produced in Portugal. The European country par excellence in terms of start-ups and a progressive fashion industry. They avoid the not so transparent Silk Road and work with local partners as much as possible. For their packaging, a collaboration was established with Ropak from Genk and their beautiful images were taken by the talented photographer Shari Ruzzi. They found the right partner (De Gouden Draad in Hasselt) for customizing the suits through the AZO project. A European initiative that guides recognized refugees to entrepreneurship.
Buying a SUITSHERWELL tailor-made suit is not only a wardrobe investment, but also the realization of a dream. Supporting young, female and Belgian entrepreneurship.
SUITSHERWELL, empowerment suits you well.
– Gloria & Mandy
Diesterstraat 5 Hasselt 3500 Belgium
Mia Zia
Mia ZiaInfo
To understand a woman, you have to read between the lines. To wear Mia Zia, we must live between the lines.”
Mia Zia is revealed to you, colorful, since 1997. The proof, a renowned signature; for almost two decades. Look between the lines but do not pass through the mesh, the range of accessories broaden and details are accentuated. Between decisions and creations, each role is executed to transmit our identity. – A combination of infinite colors unified quality and priceless uniqueness. Small hands of local workshops in Morocco, Turkey, India but also in Nepal shape the journey of silk, cashmere, linen and cotton voile in others. The scarves collections, scarves and socks that have propelled the fame of the label are complemented each season by a range of ready-to-wear women
Between the Lines The mark is similar to all those women with many facets. It is an invitation to escape from his horizon, to discover oneself more, we and elsewhere. Mia Zia is a reflection of this woman sometimes urban, sometimes globetrotter, which thrives and grows, over his experiences.
Mia Zia is certainly you !
Maliestraat 90 Elsene 1050 Belgium