The company Verstraete & Verbauwede Fabrics Nv – Carpets Nv, weaving mill of fine jacquard velvet Upholstery Fabrics – with coordinated plains, and viscose Carpets, started its first production in 1950. Today the third generation has made its entry in the family business.
Success can only be obtained through performance to the highest quality standards, focusing on a specialized product in which we want to lead. Verstraete & Verbauwede Fabrics Nv – Carpets Nv offers a wide variety of qualities in a niche market, going from trend-minded contemporary to classical traditional looks.
Up to date electronic weaving equipment, a large color bank in different yarns and fibers – all in stock, and an experienced technical and creative staff, working on novelties every day, is the key to make customers select our upholstery fabrics and carpets for their new collections.
Verstraete & Verbauwede Fabrics Nv – Carpets Nv exports its products to more than 60 countries worldwide. We are ready to take on new challenges in the future.
1957 Edouard Vermeulen is born in Ypres on March 4, 1957. He graduates as an interior designer from Saint-Luc college, which introduces him to the world of volumes and materials.
1983
AVENUE LOUISE 158
In his search for a gallery to display his first discoveries, Edouard Vermeulen rents a space in the Couture House Paul Natan, Avenue Louise. A few years later, he takes over the House under the new name NATAN.
1986 FIRST RUNWAY SHOW
NATAN’s first show, with Princess Paola as one of the guests.
Edouard Vermeulen has been dressing members of royal families for years, including the Royal Family of Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Luxembourg.
1987 FIRST READY-TO-WEAR STORE IN BRUSSELS
Opening of the NATAN ready-to-wear store in Brussels, Belgium.
1991 DISTRIBUTION
Creation of ready-to-wear lines for distribution.
1999 WEDDING DRESS QUEEN MATHILDE OF BELGIUM
Edouard Vermeulen designs the wedding dress of Queen Mathilde of Belgium.
2013 NATAN 30 YEARS
To celebrate our 30 year anniversary, we organized a fashion show in Paris in the Belgian embassy.
2014 ARSENAL SHOWROOM
Opening of the Arsenal showroom.
2016 AMSTERDAM STORE
Inauguration of the NATAN boutique in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2017 NATAN COLLECTIVE
Launch of NATAN Collective. A project allowing NATAN to support young Belgian talent by giving them the opportunity to present their work enhanced by the knowhow and name of NATAN.
2017 BARON
Edouard Vermeulen is awarded the noble title of “baron” for his services rendered to Belgium.
2018 ATELIER II
Inauguration of Atelier II at Place Brugmann in Brussels, Belgium. This atelier is created to honor the craft of tailoring by giving customers insights into the process behind the creation of a NATAN piec
2019 FIRST RUNWAY SHOW IN THE NETHERLANDS
Natan participated for the first time at Amsterdam Fashion Week.
2020 PARIS
Opening of a store in Paris, Rue des Saints-Pères
2021 OPENING SALON COUTURE KNOKKE
2022 NATAN LE BON MARCHÉ RIVE GAUCHE
The Belgian fashion house Natan and the cosmetic brand Sisley came together in the very heart of the Parisian department store Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche, combining their expertise and shared love for beauty and quality in a “Pop-Up” space.
This partnership consolidated the elegance, expertise and femininity held dear by these two family companies, that share values passed down through generations: concern for the environment, expertise, entrepreneurial spirit, art and design.
When Belgian born Stéphanie Caulier visited a small knitting cafe in New York back in 2007, she was reminded of her childhood passion of knitting. Growing up in a family surrounded by knitting and sewing, it was only natural that Stéphanie developed an interest in knitwear. It has been a labour of love over the years and from small beginnings of knitting for family and friends, the brand has evolved into `I love Mr Mittens`. Stéphanie’s passion for knitwear and design is clearly illustrated through her multiple social media avenues and her masses of followers built in the last few years.
Whilst not following traditional academic design study, Stephanie has honed her skills through years of experience in her chosen craft. She combines this knowledge with her keen fashion eye to create a line of unique chunky wool garments.
I Love Mr Mittens is not only a fashion label, it is a label based upon community and sustainability whilst maintaining timeless aesthetics. This ideal also flows through to the I Love Mr Mittens stockists. The I Love Mr Mittens range is available through a carefully selected array of stockists. Quality over quantity is Stephanie’s vision for her brand and this is seen through her select group of stockists across the globe. It is also important to recognise I love Mr Mittens “Heartworking” philosophy. Each garment is hand knitted with love by Stephanie and her team. This collaboration of small, independent businesses (rather than large conglomerates) completes the vision of I love Mr Mittens to create a brand that provides a genuine contribution back to the local community. University students and retired pensioners alike, work with a common objective of executing Stephanie’s vision of how knitwear should be, simple, elegant, timeless and fashionable.
Made in Belgium
From producer of caps to fashion brand: the history of Zilton
“Our passion for fashion has been around for over a century”, says Paul Declercq, CEO of Belgian fashion brand Zilton.
This is a major exception in the world of fashion which is governed chiefly by short-term trends.
Zilton history
Paul Declercq: “My great-grandparents started making caps in 1898 and following the death of my great-grandfather in 1917, production was taken over by his wife and two sons. Demand rose so much that in 1926 they decided to open a factory in Ardooie. In 1930, ‘City Sport’ designs were launched and my father Daniel and his cousin Godfried, the third generation, managed the factory.
During the war, production was at a low level but after the war there was an enormous boom.
The sixties were more difficult because the hippies weren’t really into caps; they preferred ribbons in their hair. (laughs)
On the pretext of: “Not everyone wears a cap, but does wear trousers”, my father started producing trousers in 1973 as well as caps. The highest quality, a perfect fit and reliability came first and foremost. A number of years later my brother and I took over the business and in 1995 we launched ourselves under the name ‘Zilton’. From then on, things moved quickly and we soon had a full clothing collection, trousers combined with blazers, coats, knitwear, shirts, scarves, belts.“
Zilton Over onsThe family business’ many years of experience in terms of materials, wear comfort, patterns and cuts, combined with the young and dynamic input of our current team have made Zilton a unique and strong Belgian brand. A solid and successful shop-in-shop concept has been developed to propose Zilton’s craftmanship in full to our fashionable customer.”
All of this has not escaped the eye of our neighbours in France and Holland. You’ll find the collection in many quality standard multibrand shops.
Following the new trend, men dress up more, so you can expect even more creativity from us. Don’t hesitate to visit our newest website – http://www.zilton.com – to keep up with our latest offers and fashion trends!
I’ve loved taking pictures as far back as I can remember. Capturing stunning imagesis my passion; it’s what gets me up in the morning.
90’s style fashion photography really inspires me and whether I’m shooting films, interiors, boudoirs or a product campaign, you can bet it’ll have a fashion edge to it.
Photography has taken me all around the world and enabled me to work with all types of different people and industries. What I’ve learned from it all is thatvariety IS the spice of life. It’s the heart and soul of my pictures.
I’ve photographed everything from models in New York, to beaches in South America, to temples in Bali, to diamonds in Antwerp. Each and every experience has enriched my craft in its own unique way.
I live in Antwerp, so I spend most of my downtime chasing the sun with my travelbuddy, muse and wife Ritza or playing with our goofy dogs. They’re the source of all the drive and creativity I bring to my work.
My pictures are all about beauty, power, clean lines and style and I’m always in pursuit of that next perfect image.
Guy’s Naaicentrum was founded in April 1982. The story begins decades earlier, in the 1930s. Désiré Van der Vorst, the maternal grandfather of founder Guy, started trading in the Waasland markets with merchandise such as buttons, sewing thread, zippers, etc, to sell. Later he also starts a shop in the Slangstraat in Hamme.
Two of his three daughters, Annie (Guy’s mother) & Irène, later join the company with their respective husbands. Irène and Etienne successfully ran the shop in Hamme until 1997. Between the 1960s and 2005 Annie, Jozef and son Guy sold an extremely extensive range of high-quality sewing materials on the markets in Waasland and Dendermonde.
In 1982 Guy starts in the sewing machines. With a technical background as a background, he starts training with the most renowned sewing machine manufacturers of the time: Husqvarna in Huskvarna, Sweden on the one hand, and Pfaff in Kaiserslautern, Germany on the other. He learns all the basic elements to repair and adjust a machine. During the same period, he meets Chris, his future wife. Soon Chris, meanwhile his wife, begins to learn many tricks of the sewing trade from Guy.
During that period, Guy’s Sewing Center was located at 2 Plezantstraat in the center of Hamme. With the extensive range they already had at the time, they quickly proved to be an established value in the Waasland and beyond. Guy’s Sewing Center is bursting at the seams for the first time and a brand new store is opened in 1987 in the Roodkruisstraat. In the meantime, in addition to all possible sewing materials, from embroidery and overlock threads to an unprecedented range of zippers to scissors, various brands of machines have also been added to the range: the Japanese top manufacturers Babylock and Janome (then marketed in Belgium under the brand name Lewenstein). ) join the range. In the mid-1990s, the store was expanded for the first time with an underground warehouse, extra large showroom annex classroom and computers for software lessons. A few years later, the quality brand Bernina is also added to the range.
At the end of 2004, the range was expanded to such an extent that a new expansion was necessary. The new building with adjoining shop is being built in record time. In less than 12 months, Guy’s Sewing Center has doubled in size. Quilting fabrics, gems from Gütermann & Swarovski and an even more extensive range of handicraft items, such as knitting yarns from quality brands Lana Grossa, Rowan and Schachenmayr, further complete the range. With the sewing machines, the Japanese brand Juki completes the unparalleled selection of overlock machines and the quality brand Bernina is also included in the range.
From the autumn of 2012, his son Joris also joined the family business as the 4th generation in the sewing sector. He gradually learns the trade from both his father Guy and mother Chris as well as from the countless courses he regularly follows: he follows the lessons of Pfaff & Husqvarna VIKING, Bernina’s 3-4-5-7 series and the countless Janome- models, but also of all brands of overlock machines. Embroidery software and the multi-needle Janome MB-4/MB-7 series also hold no secrets for him.
In 2017, the decision was taken to tear down the adjacent building on the other side and build a completely new store: spacious, modern and light are the keywords here. Demolition will start in July 2017. After a tour de force, Guy’s Sewing Center 2.0 will open its doors in August 2018. An extra spacious showroom, much more light and space in all areas, efficient quality lamps to give the most true-to-colour image of the products,… Everything has been thought of. There is also a spacious classroom for the private lessons of the machines and workshops. The new store has a low carbon footprint in relation to its size:
large solar panel installation,
exceptionally economical LED lamps,
warehouse lighting sensors,
efficient and powerful ventilation,
heat pumps for heating and cooling,
using rainwater for the toilet.
The range of knitting wool and fabrics will be further expanded at that time. Lana Grossa even distinguishes Guy’s Sewing Center as a Lana Grossa Superstore.
Our permanent team of people now consists of Guy, Chris, Joris, Hilde, Anita, Liesbeth & Lore. Fixed points of contact to offer you the best possible service, each with its own specialty.
Far and wide, in East Flanders, Antwerp and Flemish Brabant, we are known for our customer-friendly service, clear explanations without buzzing marketing terms, large stock, unparalleled range. Guy’s Sewing Center is therefore the one-stop-shop for everything that has to do with sewing, needlework, knitting, ….
You read it. Passion and knowledge for and of our profession, it has been in our blood for generations. Since the 1930s, we have distinguished ourselves with the choice for
