At the start of the 20th century, during the Belle Epoque, Belgium’s seaside town Ostend was at its height as a fashionable European summer destination for the bourgeois families. New fashions were being bought and showed during the social activities, such as the races and golf tournaments, during the summer season.

The role of Ostend as a town where people went to see and be seen, and as a centre for the development of the ‘coastal etiquette’ for the upper classes is described in the book Koninginnen aan de Noordzee (Queens of the North Sea) by Tom Sintobin (VUB).

An article by Wim Mertens and Karen Van Godtsenhoven (Les élégantes, fashion during the Ostend season 1900-1905) is featured in this publication, focusing on the fashions related to the new sea-side activities, and will be presented at a book presentation on Saturday October 19th , 2:30 PM, in the panoramic hall of the cultural centre De Grote Post.

The book presentation is accompanied by a screening of Henri Storck’s ‘Image d’Ostende’.
Entrance is free but registration is required: cultuur@oostende.be

We are looking forward to ASVOFF#6 ANTWERP! Don’t forget to register for the public screening on October 16th at 7PM at AMUZ, Kammenstraat 81 via asvoff@momu.be (free entrance, but registration is compulsory!)

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Mechelen (office)furniture manufacturer Bulo, MoMu and Bulo team up for a creative collab. Anniversaries are the ideal moment to look back to its own heritage, but also to look to the future.

Christian Salez, Bulo CEO, asked MoMu’s Kaat Debo to share her thoughts how to translate the heritage of our collection to the audience of tomorrow. MoMu invited visual artist Frederik Heyman to work on the MoMu Collection, in a way that transcends the static character of a traditional exhibition. For MOMU3, Heyman creates in collaboration with graphic artist Wout Bosschaert, 3 fashion films in which he infuses the rich collection of the MoMu with digital life by using 3D scans and manipulations.

The films will be shown from October 11th until November 30th in a video installation at the renewed Bulo headquarters in Mechelen, which has been reshaped into a workshop for architects and designers (free entrance).

Today we had the pleasure of welcoming Diane Von Furstenberg at the Happy Birthday Dear Academie expo during her short stay in Antwerp!

Watch the trailer from ASVOFF6 Antwerp October 15th and 16th which we shot with Diane Pernet last May with our MoMu Collection department and backstage as setting!

For the first time ever, the 6th edition of ASVOFF will visit Antwerp on October 15th and 16th, 2013, after its launch at Centre Pompidou during Paris Fashion Week from October 11th until 13th.

Founded in 2008 by the internationally acclaimed fashion critic and video journalist Diane Pernet, A Shaded View on Fashion Film (ASVOFF) is the world’s first annual festival dedicated to fashion films. ASVOFF is not only a competition of short films about fashion, style, beauty but also a traveling international event showcasing feature films, documentaries, conferences, performances and installations.

ASVOFF6 ANTWERP is organized in collaboration with MoMu, Fashion Museum province of Antwerp and Antwerp. Powered by Creatives and will take place at AMUZ, situated in and around the 17th century baroque St. Augustine Church, located in the centre of Antwerp. The building combines an impressive historical setting with all the technical features of a modern concert hall.

The programme includes a selection of short movies selected from the ASVOFF6 edition around the theme of DREAM. Highlights in the selection include ao ‘Les Stars’ directed by the prolific image-maker Serge Lutens, fashion and film icon Daphne Guinness starring in ‘Shakki’ directed by emerging French director Julien Landais, ‘Sister Act’ directed by Ellen von Unwerth, etc.
Together with the ASVOFF-festival, MoMu will present MOMU3, a series of 3 fashion films in collaboration with Bulo, created by Antwerp photographer and artist Frederik Heyman in which he infuses a selection of historical and contemporary silhouettes from the rich collection of the MoMu with digital life by using 3D scans and manipulations.

ASVOFF6 ANTWERP
AMUZ, Kammenstraat 81, 2000 Antwerp
Tuesday, 15/10, from 7PM until 11PM (invitation only)
Wednesday, 16/10 from 7PM until 11PM (free entrance)
(free festival, but registration is required, asvoff@momu.be
More info www.momu.be and www.asvoff.com

MoMu needs you! For an upcoming exhibition MoMu is looking for early pieces (preferably complete silhouettes) from the designer Dries Van Noten. Do you still have a garment from Van Noten’s first collection from 1986 in your closet, or special pieces from the early 90s?
Send us a picture via DVN@momu.be

50 years of Antwerp Fashion Department all compiled in the entrance hall of the MoMu!

A metal construction has been setup alongside our staircase with a big timeline giving an overview in images and video of the most important moments in the history of the program, its department heads and teachers, its graduates and their careers. Over a period of five decades the cohorts of students testify to an unprecedented internationalization while numerous aspects of the education program, including the end of year fashion show, become increasingly professional.

Over the generations of students, several alumni would start their own label or fashion house. Many others embark on alternative careers—often behind the scenes of major international fashion houses—as stylists, make-up artists, fashion designers at a fashion house, or start working in another artistic discipline. Here you can see a selection of alumni with a brief overview of their careers. The diversity and the international scope of their careers illustrate the extent to which this training program has left its mark on the fashion of the past few decades.

We are extremely grateful to HP Belgium for their support for the screens. For 50 years the Fashion Department has only been satisfied by nothing but the highest quality. As HP Belgium shares this passion for excellence they chose to support MoMu with their technology and making our ideas real and extraordinary. Thank you HP!

On the occasion of the celebration Happy Birthday Dear Academie, MoMu – Fashion Museum Province of Antwerp, Antwerpen Open and Toerisme Vlaanderen are presenting the project Antwerp Icons.

12 renowned designers, all graduates of the Antwerp Fashion Department, chose an iconic piece from their archive. MoMu, the Fashion Museum of the Province of Antwerp invited photographer Ronald Stoops, make-up artist Inge Grognard and fashion designer Dirk Van Saene to interpret these garments in a styling with printed bodysuits which refer to the signature of the desig- ners. The large format photos pop up at various locations all over the city.

12 iconic garments by Antwerp fashion designers have been immortalised in large format photographs positioned around the city. Rendered in heroic proportions reminiscent of the totemic ‘giants’ that have been carried in Antwerp processions since the 14th century, each photograph represents the work of a celebrated graduate from the Fashion Department of the Antwerp Academy.
Styled by designer Dirk Van Saene a visual link has been made between the silhouettes by the use of a simple bodysuit. Each is printed with a pattern or textile strongly associated with the appropriate designer’s work, chosen following research through the archives of MoMu. The designers then selected a single, iconic piece to be worn over the bodysuits.

Ronald Stoops’s photographs emphasise the monumental scale of the image by dramatically manipulating the proportions of the model. Both Stoops and makeup artist Inge Grognard are strongly associated with Antwerp fashion of the last 25 years, and their intimate understanding of the aesthetic and working methods of each designer is apparent in the highly individual styling choices made for each silhouette. The towering, 10-meter-high images have been placed at appropriate locations around the city.

Discover the Antwerp Icons in Antwerp: Ann Demeulemeester (Leopold de Waelplaats/ Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten), Bernhard Willhelm (Astridplein), Dries Van Noten (Hanzestedenplaats/MAS), Dirk Van Saene (Wapper), Dirk Bikkembergs (Theaterplein), Marina Yee (Handschoenmarkt/Kathedraal), A.F. Vandevorst (Bolivarplaats/Justitiepaleis), Veronique Branquinho (De Keyserlei), Walter Van Beirendocnk (Nationalestraat/MoMu), Christian Wijnants (Falconplein), Peter Pilotto (Ernest van Dijckkaai/Voetgangerstunnel), Maison Martin Margiela (Mechelseplein).

The ICOM Costume Committee, an organisation for museum professionals that work with costume, has recently launched an exciting new project: Clothes Tell Stories. Clothes Tell Stories is not just for museum professionals, it is for everyone with an interest in costume and fashion! Are you an aspiring curator looking to learn more, do ever you wonder what happens behind the scenes at a fashion museum or do you like to read those fascinating stories that clothes have to tell? Visit Clothes Tell Stories.

PS: For this project, the Committee also selected best practices in social media and we are honoured to have our MoMu Facebook page featured as an example on the Clothes Tell Stories website. Thank you!

http://issuu.com/thefashioncollections/docs/collectionsaw2013

Collections A/W 2013 is the first issue of a quarterly magazine by London based editor-in-chief Louise Rytter, celebrating fashion exhibitions, museums and private collections. The magazine features Hamish Bowles, Pierre Bergé, Caroline Evans, Judith Clark, Oriole Cullen and Patricia de Nicolai among others.

MoMu is very happy to have participated with the project in an editorial shoot “The Daily Essentials of MoMu”, a story of still life pictures featuring our the offices of our director, curator, collection, library and the communications department and their relevant everyday office tools.

We look forward to the next issue already! The magazine is distributed in London and Copenhagen, more info via this link!

Keep an eye out for the Antwerp Icons popping up all over Antwerp next week!
Happy Birthday Dear Academie! – 12 renowned designers, all graduates of the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, chose an iconic piece from their archive. MoMu invited photographer Ronald Stoops, make-up artist Inge Grognard and designer Dirk Van Saene to interpret these garments in a styling with printed bodysuits which refer to the signature of the designers.

Featuring: Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Van Saene, Walter Van Beirendonck, Marina Yee, Dirk Bikkembergs, Maison Martin Margiela, Christian Wijnants, Veronique Branquinho, Peter Pilotto, Bernhard Willhelm and A.F. Vandevorst