Young Levels
Young LevelsMore Info
We are young entrepreneurs, willing to deliver high levels of quality. We are creative minds that stand for playful professionalism. We believe that independence drives personal and professional growth.
Our mission is to empower young and ambitious people through means of design. We aim to provide those who are ready to take big steps in life, got the perfect shoes to do so.
It all started with Dieter, who spend his young life working hard to pile up his savings in order to achieve his dream and become an entrepreneur. One of the reasons for becoming an entrepreneur was his desire for independence. As a risktaker and creative mind, he felt that he was never going to be satisfied with his nine-to-five job. Now our first design sneaker has launched and not only is he paving the way of his own independence, he wants to create opportunities for other young and ambitious minds.
By proving design fashion and creating opportunities for young and ambitious minds, we strive towards a world where working independent is the norm. We believe that working for yourself where hard work really pays of is a life worth living and that everyone must be able to have this opportunity.
Fletersdel 52 Genk 3600 Belgium
More Info
—
The workshops are a moment of sharing where time stands still : a unique immersive experience in a cosy atmosphere where participants return home with a personalised leather piece and a strong feeling of pride 🙂
—
Experience is not required. Only good eyes, and your good mood!
—
You will find below the calendar of workshops. And at the bottom of the page you have more info & pictures about each workshop.
—
Note that we also offer customised and team building workshops. Do not hesitate to contact us 🙂
The Brand
Kinamania is an independent Brussels-based atelier with a passion for leather. We make fine iconic footwear inspired by cultural heritage and revisited with elegance and dare. The shoes are made in Spain and Portugal.
“I find my inspiration in basic footwear styles that have stood the test of time to which I add fashion-forward details. This is my way of reinventing heritage.” Kristina
The brand has two main lines – The Essentials which are timeless collections and The Collaborations where Kristina partners with artists, artisans and craft-based NGOs to put their craft in the spotlight.
Collaborations
Kristina has a deep appreciation of makers and cultural heritage combined with a passion for leather as a primary raw material. Driven by her curiosity and her hunger for discovery of creative works, she collaborates with artisans and artists on her shoe collections and takes great pride in partnering, when possible, with craft-based NGOs that drive real changes in people’s lives.
The founder
Former designer and production director to the Johnny Farah House of leather accessories – between Beirut & NY – Kristina Zouein spent countless hours in artisans’ workshops. As a self-taught designer, this was a very formative experience.
In 2015 and with more than 10 years experience, she decides to create Kinamania, a slow fashion brand of accessories with a balanced mix of humility, sobriety and dare.
Of Canadian-Lebanese origins, Kristina lived most of her life in Beirut, until she met her partner and moved to Brussels a few years ago
A committed brand : Kinamania X Cancer
“In November 2019, I was diagnosed with breast cancer which pushed me to redefine the way I am leading my life and my business. Statistics show that 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, and I was chocked when I learnt those numbers, especially to discover that so many women, like myself, below the age of 40 go through this for reasons that are still unclear. Since then, I have committed to support cancer research.”
Leather and sustainability
Kinamania shoes are made from domesticated animal skins that are raised in agricultural settings and treated in European tanneries that are certified for their environmentally friendly working method.
The European leather industry is at the forefront of the conversation and innovation towards lower impact and circular practices :
+ to reduce chemical usage, water, and waste compared to traditional tanning processes.
+ to make sure that animals from which the hide is used are being treated well
+ to ensure that people who produce the leather are treated fairly
Fun facts to know 🙂
+++ It is through a failed romance with a Spaniard that Kristina discovered the abarca sandal style. This traditional Spanish sandal was the trigger to her shoe brand.
+++ KinaMania is a brand name with roots in ‘menorquina’, the alternative name for the abarca sandal which was originally handmade on the island of Menorca in the Baleares. The mania for Kinas is born from menorquina mania!
+++ The shoes have singer name and the subtitles refer to uplifting songs that align to the Craft Your Day tagline.
+++ The tag line says CRAFT YOUR DAY with two dashes. The two dashes symbolise the craftsmanship and hand-stitched design signature of the Kinamania fine footwear atelier.
Atypical leather-craft workshops
Kristina also offers creative leathercraft workshops combining leather and modern technology.
The objective behind those workshops is that participants personalise a beautiful object – in a warm and friendly atmosphere – and proudly return home with a unique souvenir.
WE ARE OPEN !
In the prestigious Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert, center Brussels !
Kinamania will be here until July 25.
Looking forward to welcoming you!
Galerie du Roi 22, 1000, Brussels
Open Tue-Sun from 11H-19H
Galerie du Roi 22 Brussels 1000 Belgium
13 Bollinckx Street Brussels 1070 Belgium
Kamo Gutsu
Kamo GutsuMore Info
Kamo-Gutsu was created in 2014 by Freddy Dreesens, who was at that time
one of the owners of the Belgian shoe company The Velvet Factory.
Besides creating men and women shoes for fashion labels we thought it would be nice
to think outside the box and create something that wasn’t on the market yet:
fresh shoes with some fun and wit, lots of color, but still very wearable and comfortable.
The first collection premiered during the MICAM shoe fair in Milan and the rest is history:
today we distribute Kamo-Gutsu in 8 countries where shoe- and fashion retailers present
our footwear as the “happy misfits” in a sometimes boring shoe world.
We develop two collections per year, manufactured in the Italian Marche region,
famous for its artisan shoes with a high quality standard.
Since December 2020 Kamo-Gutsu is created and distributed by SHUZ.63,
the company owned by the designer and instigator of the brand.
More Info
Les Soeurs, the holy triangle. Or 3 sisters with a full time passion for fashion and jewellery, who collect the latest fashion musthaves for you!
In 2011, Belgian fashion-girls Jules, Kay & Clio baptised their label ‘Les Soeurs’. Die hard fashionista’s they are, their mission for that unique bracelet, ring, necklace or handbag is endless. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do: they gathered in a journey to bring together the most beautiful gemstones, natural leathers and precious metals. The outcome is an exclusive jewellery and accessory collection with a very personal touch, like loads of sister love, created on Belgian territory.
Industrieweg 100A Tessenderlo 3980 Belgium
n.d.c. made by hand
n.d.c. made by handMore Info
SIMPLICITY, QUALITY, CONSTRUCTIONAL KNOW-HOW,
ORIGINALITY, EXQUISITE FINISHING
INDIVIDUALISM
n.d.c. made by hand was created in 2001 by two friends passionate about shoes. Unable to find the shoes they really wanted to wear, they launched the brand to fulfil their personal need.
n.d.c. made by hand immediately opened a new dimension in men’s and lady’s footwear, offering luxurious materials, comfortable lasts and rejuvenated classics. The collections aimed to be appealing to a wide range of customers — trend setters, luxury lovers, quality freaks, etc — who are in pursuit of understated individualism.
NOM DE CODE
The brand name nom de code — or ‘code name’ – reflects our conviction that the strength of the brand is the product itself. Four key factors define every n.d.c. made by hand collection: simplicity, quality, originality and constructional know-how.
HAND CRAFTED
All of our shoes are hand-crafted by the best European artisans using only carefully selected hides from Italy’s expert tanneries. Our passion for footwear is reflected in the use of quality materials, traditional shoe constructions — blake, goodyear, sacchetto, espadrille, etc — and exquisite finishing techniques. We do our best to turn every pair into a hand made work of art.
Flagship Store 36, rue Léon Lepage Brussels 1000 Belgium
More Info
Les Flemmard, c’est cosy. Ce qui est encore plus cosy, c’est de partager notre bonheur autour de nous.
NOTRE ENGAGEMENT SOCIÉTAL
Parce que la cause nous implique tout particulièrement, nous nous engageons à appliquer une discrimination positive envers les personnes porteuses d’handicap. Cela se concrétise par l’emploi de personnes en situation d’handicap et par le don de Flemmard aux personnes en chaise roulant.
Votre commandes sera prise en charge par une personne en situation d’handicap. Pour les envois, nous travaillons en effet avec un atelier protégé (une entreprise adaptée pour l’emploi de personnes en situation d’handicap). Cela garanti du coeur, de la passion et de la douceur dans chacune des boites.
Nassim est tellement bien Flemmard aux pieds qu’il a eu envie de partager son bonheur avec d’autres : nous offrons une paire de Flemmard à toute personne vivant en chaise roulante.
Si vous avez un handicap physique, prenez contact avec nous Nous serions ravis de vous faire plaisir.
Selon une enquête de Statbel (l’office belge de statistique), en Belgique, seul 24% des personnes handicapées âgées de 15 à 64 ans ont un emploi en Belgique contre 65% pour l’ensemble de la population du même âge. Les rapports de l’Insee montre une situation semblable en France.
Les Flemmard ont de l’énergie à revendre. Si vous avez un projet en faveur de l’handicap, contactez-nous. Nous pourrons voir si l’on peut vous aider : en parler autour de nous, vous aider avec nos bras / notre temps, etc
NOTRE ENGAGEMENT ÉCOLOGIQUE
Flemmard c’est un mode de vie plus écologique. Un engagement évident surtout compte tenu de l’impact environnemental de l’industrie textile version fast fashion.
Gigue
GigueMore Info
Gigue is a Belgian fashion brand with a decidedly feminine signature. The collections, known for colour, print and sophisticated details, include ready-to-wear, shoes and accessories. The looks exude spontaneous elegance, are superbly tailored and feel fabulous due to the high-quality fabrics. When designing the ever contemporary-chic collections, Gigue designer Audrey Wyckmans is inspired by her respect for a form of casual style, interior design, travel and art.
The looks exude spontaneous elegance and feel fabulous.
Each season is centered around 4 or 5 themes which can be easily combined. Gigue will not give in to radical style overhauls. The collections flow seamlessly into one another, nonetheless they are perfectly in tune with contemporary fashion trends.
Headquartered in Antwerp, Gigue now boasts a distribution network of brand stores, shop-in-shops and more than one hundred fifty multi brand stores, both in Belgium and abroad.
Gigue’s history dates to the beginning of the 1980s when founder Jo Wyckmans introduced the preppy look in Belgium with his ‘A Different Dialogue’ collection. In 1991 he founded Gigue and instantly put the label on the map, by earning the title ‘Designer of the Year’.
Around the year 2000 Gigue evolved with the arrival of designer Audrey, daughter of the founder, and her ultra-feminine collections. For about 25 years now, Gigue has remained true to its identity.
Gigue has always devoted considerable attention to its image. Since the label was founded, top photographers and up and coming international models have worked for Gigue, giving brand images and catalogues that extra special touch. The Gigue clothes and models are always portrayed in a very natural way without excessive make-up or glitter.
Head office Boomsesteenweg 12/1 Aartselaar 2630 Belgium
More Info
Rombaut’s design is about modernizing our way of thinking. By proposing strong aesthetics and humanist values, ROMBAUT aims to provide a way forward for a world in need of change – “ a progressive concept for a more equitable future.
The underlying vision is of an ecological way of life through stark, exposed designs where materials play a fundamental part, both in style and in philosophy.
Color, form and detailing are precise, essential and forward-looking. The style offered is modern and pure.
The craftsmanship of ROMBAUT transforms materials at a fundamental level, creating new material innovations out of stone, tree bark, natural rubber, cotton cellulose and coconut fiber.
All materials and fabrics are sustainably engineered – there are no toxic or animal-derived substances involved.
Instead ROMBAUT develops plant-based materials and is determined to protect bio-diversity in our environment.
The Belgian designer Mats Rombaut is based in Paris, France. ROMBAUT is his first solo project after over five years experience in menswear accessories development and production in Paris with Lanvin menswear and later the Croatian designer Damir Doma.
He draws inspiration from natural processes and science and translates them into modern objects.
6 rue de la Corderie Paris 75003 France
More Info
A TALE OF BEAUTY AND BELIEF
Laar 29 Aartselaar 2630 Belgium
Dries Van Noten
Dries Van NotenMore Info
Biography
Born in Antwerp in 1958, Dries Van Noten is the third generation in a family of tailors. At the age of 18, Dries entered the fashion design course of Antwerp’s Royal Academy. On graduating, he began to freelance as a consultant designer before starting his own collection of menswear in 1986. Since its beginnings Dries Van Noten has presented collections for women and men for Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter each year. He
celebrated his 50th fashion show in 2004 and 100th fashion show in 2017.
In June 2008, the Council of Fashion Designers of America honoured Dries Van Noten with its International
Designer of the Year Award. 2014 began with the grand opening of Dries Van Noten, “Inspirations”, a first
ever exhibition featuring his designs and influences at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Another
configuration of the exhibit moved to Antwerp in 2015. In July France decorated Dries Van Noten with the
honour of ‘Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.’ In October 2016, Dries Van Noten wins the Culture
Award from The Province of Antwerp for his contribution to Culture.
In June 2018 Puig entered the capital structure of Dries Van Noten as majority owner. The designer remains, over the long term, a significant minority shareholder and continues his role as chief creative officer and chairman of the board.
2019 saw Mr Van Noten collaborate with world renowned fashion designer Mr Christian Lacroix on his
collection for Women, Spring/Summer 2020. In June 2020, and September 2021, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has again nominated Dries Van Noten for its International Designer of the Year Award.
Q&A with dries van noten
When did you know that designing clothes was your path & passion?
There was a certain logic to my choice as my family had been involved in fashion and the garment business for generations. My father created one of Belgium’s most innovative retailers of ‘Pret-a-Porter’ and my grandfather was a tailor. I inherited my love of garment making, its traditions and rituals, from these men and my mother. Family immersed me in the craft and skill of fabrics, impassioned me with the power of flair and style for women and men that fired my quest to explore and question the subjectivity of “beauty” and the role it would play in my life. My family was very supportive and encouraged me to continue its fashion tradition. I regularly accompanied my parents to Paris and Milan on their many buying trips for collections. Though they had imagined I might take over the retail business, that I was passionate to become a fashion designer came as a great surprise to them.
What is your design signature?
I see a garment as a singular item of excellence that is part of a larger story told, firstly, within a designer’s vision for a collection and ultimately as part of the final wearer’s expression of their style through their wardrobe. My joy is to create a garment that fuses and balances beauty, craft and function, a garment that can perform well and continue in time to become part of life’s story. I enjoy juggling with colours, textures and light in a way that evokes rather than provokes.
Where do you come up with your best ideas?
The spark of inspiration for the narrative a collection rarely ever comes in the same way. The initial idea can sometimes come quickly and remain constant throughout the design process… occur on a walk in my garden, encountering a painting or the life and work of an artist. It can be something rarefied or ordinary, for example, suddenly looking at something that has surrounded me every day and seeing it in a different way that inspires. It can be a photograph in a book or a magazine, a re-read passage in a loved book, a conversation with friends or my design team or a piece of music. For other collections the story is more of a journey, deliberate, considered, and evolves through time and the design process. Anything can be that spark that ignites the creative process. What I have learned is that one recognises the spark when it happens, it may not be too planned, be ‘of its time’ and is more emotional than cerebral.
Is there a difference between style and fashion?
Of course, style comes from within..
What colour or fabric would you never use?
None actually! Often, challenging myself to work with colours, fabrics, or forms that I have disliked and bringing them into a collection can be an important aspect of the creative process.
What is beauty?
The idea of beauty is supremely subjective and very personal. Time also plays a role when our view on what is beautiful to us evolves. A flower, a building or a garment can be a thing of wonder for one while leaving another completely indifferent. What was beautiful to us even recently may be ugly today. Luckily, all designers have their own eye on and language of beauty.
What is ugliness?
It resonates in the same way as beauty for me. It is exciting when the formerly ugly becomes beautiful.
Timeline
- 1981 Dries Van Noten graduates from Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp
- 1986 Dries Van Noten started his first own collection of menswear after working as a freelance consultant designer
- 1989 Flagship store opens in Antwerp, Belgium
- 2004 50th Show
- 2007 Paris store opens at Quai Malaquais, Paris France
- 2008 Dries Van Noten wins Internation Designer of the year at CFDA awards./ Dries Van Noten Sacred “Royal Designer for Industry” from the RSA Trustee Board in London
- 2009 Flagship store opens in Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan/ Stores opens for the men at Quai Malaquais, Paris, France
Dries Van Noten Induction to The “Galerie Des Eminents” By The Flemish Chamber Of Commerce (Voka)
Dries van Noten is gifted a gold medal by The Flemish Royal Academy of Belgium
Dries Van Noten Is Honored With the “Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion” By the Couture Council of the Museum at Fit In New York - 2010 Dries Van Noten Is Invited To Preside Over the 25th Edition of the “Festival International De Mode et De Photographie” of Hyres, France
- 2013 Olfactory portrait by Frederic Malle with The Nose Bruno Jonanovic
- 2014 xhibition at The Musée Des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, France
A book that accompanied his exhibition at Musée des arts Décoratifs in Paris, France - 2015 Dries Van Noten is decorated by Jack Lang of the medal
Opening of Dries Van Noten Osaka - 2016 Wins Culture Award from The Province of Antwerp
- 2017 An intimate portrait into the life, mind and creative heart the designer
A book in two volumes that depicts and documents his first 100 collection and Fashion shows
In recognition of his career as fashion designer and his contribution to the Cultural life of his native land - 2018 DVN enters in partnership with Puig as Major Stakeholders
- 2019 Collaboration with Mr Christian Lacroix
- 2020 Nominated by The CFDA for International Designer of The Year Award
Stores opens in Shanghai, China
Flagship stores opens in Los Angeles, USA the first Dries Van Noten store in the Unites States of America
Godefriduskaai 36 Antwerpen 2000 Belgium