Brief Encounter

I'll be back on Monday with new photos of the past fashion week. Have a wonderful week-end! Cheers!!!

Je vous souhaite un excellent week-end et vous dis à lundi pour de nouvelles photos de la dernière fashion week.

The Last Snapshots from Antwerp

So it was 15 days ago that I left for this fashion week-end organised by the Antwerp Tourism Office, and this post is going to be the last one. Some snapshots taken on the Sunday that I wanted to share with you.


On the morning, we all met at Wattman, a cosy and friendly place where we had hot drinks before taking a walk around the city.



I like this kind of place where you can find newspapers or magazines and games to keep the kids quiet and busy while you sharing time with friends.


I think we all took pictures of Tanguy Ottomer's lovely dog. Tanguy was our insider guide for this Sunday morning tour, he knows his city by heart and it was really fantastic to be with him.


We started with a walk in Zurenborg area and the streets around Cogels- Osylei to admire a block of famous and preserved Art Nouveau architecture. From there we went from a district to another until a delicious lunch at Lux. I didn't have a lot of photos as I forgot in Paris the device to load the battery of my camera and had to keep power for the Delvaux's exhibition in the afternoon.


Wonder if when I'll come back there will be more shoes stuck there?



Modenatie opened in September 2002 and houses the ModeMuseum (MOMU), the Flanders Fashion Institute and the Fashion department of Hogeslschool Antwerpen as well as a restaurant and a bookshop.


Susie working in the lobby of the Lindner Hotel conveniently located in the rear of the Antwerp Central Station.




Well I hope you enjoyed those reviews about Antwerp. I couldn't end this journey without showing you some views of the renovated Antwerp Central Station, which deserves according to Newsweek, the 4th place as world's most beautiful stations.

I keep all the Antwerp guide I got during this week-end for a next trip as there is so many things that I couldn't visit. I wrote some reviews on TripAdvisor and there's always the Facebook Page dedicated to Antwerp-City of Fashion.

I'll go back to shoes pretty soon because I guess you miss it a little bit. See you guy and have a wonderful Friday!

Delvaux: House of Refinement

The last thing we did on Sunday before leaving Antwerp was visiting the Delvaux's exhibition at the MOMU. The story of this Belgian luxury goods house began in 1829 when Charles Delvaux and his wife opened their first workshop manufacturing travel goods in Brussels. The exhibition is actually an interesting and inspirational journey in Delvaux's history and creativity from the manufacture of travel goods for the local nobility and the Royal Court in the 19th century through the rise of modern handbag in the 20th.



In every history of luxury companies, you find a man with a vision that led them to another level.
Franz Schwennicke who took over Delvaux in 1933 was this man (nowadays the company is still in his family hands). He rebuilt the company around traditional values and moreover established a studio system that produced two seasonal collections of original bags which was pretty modern at this time. Designs were registered to protect against counterfeiting and details were recorded in the Livre d'Or. In the late 40's, details included the name of the designer for each bag as shown on the exhibited Timeline.




This model that I'm totally fond became a classic and part of the Delvaux's bag families which means that it is still manufactured...



As I said, the first workshop in 1929 manufactured travel goods. Along the 19th and 20th centuries, each mode of transport required specific luggage from carriage trunks to flat-topped standardised ones and of course all we need now in our modern business traveller's world.



What really interested me was the display of black and white photograps and drawings from the Studio and the room dedicated to the atelier's work and the skills of the artisans as all products are still made by hand. Nowadays, the development of each collection is still shared between the studio designers and the technical department.




Well "Belgitude" which leads to some funny creations like this homage to Magritte below with the "Ceci n'est pas un Delvaux" bag (This is not a Delvaux).


Well I highly recommend you to visit this exhibition. And you can read my fellow blogger's reviews on the Facebook Page as we all had a different vision of it. The last part of the exhibition presents various artistic designers that led the studio as well as the creative collaborations with fashion designers like Bruno Pieters or model Hannelore Knuts and of course the first three bags produced by Veronique Branquinho who was introduced in Spring 09 as the Delvaux's new artistic director. You'll see them in the following post.

Delvaux - 180 Years of Belgian Luxury
Until 21 February 2010

MOMU
Nationalestraat 28/1
tel: + 32 (0)3 470 27 70

Inside Delvaux Store

We tried not to spend too many times in the Delvaux's store during the Fashion Hunt but actually I'd liked to stay a little bit longer...



Here are the three bags designed by Veronique Branquihno. Timelessness, discretion, pure designs and a poetical feeling created by their names. From left to right, Message Ambigu (Ambiguous Message), simply love this shape of an envelope, Regard Passager (Fleeting Glance) and Ame Libre (Free Spirit).



I'm also very fond of this line of handbag.


And those travelling bags for men designed by Bruno Pieters, they're just perfect.

Delvaux
Komedieplaats 17, 2000 Antwerpen
tel: + 32 (0)3 232 02 47

A Visit To Anna Heylen

A little come back in Antwerp to mention the Maison Anna Heylen and our meeting with Anna, a former graduate from the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, who opened her Maison in 2008 in a beautiful building of the Lombardenstraat.



We did so many things during that day that I wasn't in a mood of taking a lot of photos and prefered enjoying the atmosphere of the house and little detaisl like this doll. In 1993, Anna created for Antwerp Capital of Europe's event a collection of dolls that you can also admire on the first level of the house.




As I said, not a lot of snapshots of the clothes, so I guess you have to go there to see a singular mix of technical perfection and crazyness as Anna defines her style (or you can take a look at some reviews of the other bloggers on the Facebook Page). As for me I will come back because there's is an handmade knit black sweater with the kind of transparency I love that is waiting for me!


A bicycle so typical of Antwerp as the design of Anna's trademark, a red hand, which is (the hand) as I learned later the symbol of the city.

Boutique Anna Heylen
Lombardenstraat 16, 2000 Antwerp
tel: + 32 (0)3 213 01 60

Here We Go! New Temptation!

Private sales with an tantalizing list of designers, if you're in Paris...

Vente privée avec une liste assez impressionnante de créateurs, si ça vous dit...

Sheer Tights

So now that it's time to wear tights, here's some alternative to plumetis.

C'est le temps des collants, et comme vous pouvez le constater, il y a des alternatives aux plumetis.

You Need To Go To Hospital!

Hospital was one of the place we should have found during the Fashion Hunt but unfortunately we didn't reach the Antwerp South district on time. Anyway, I managed to visit this amazing 1200 square metres open space on different levels that actually is housed in the former stabbles of the Antwerp Hippodrome that no longer exists.


This multi-labels luxury concept store offers a wide range of belgian and international designer brands, such as Viktor & Rolf, Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, Tim Van Steenbergen and Sonia Rykiel, displayed side by side with trendy French, Italian and Scandinavian labels, such as Paul & Joe, D&G and Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, Diesel Denim Gallery, Karl Lagerfeld, or Raf Simons. As for the accessories, I was once again attracted by A.F. Vandervorst's bags.


As you can see, the space is wide enough to display a vintage car and I learn on the website that car changes every month and is also for sale!



If by any chance you can't find what you need in the clothes and accessories selection, there is also a wine bars where you can buy selected quality wines.


As a shoe maniac, I was of course attracted by the display of the new Camper Together collaboration with four designers. I'm really not into Camper actually but how can I ignore such a collection. The red C-Shoe designed by Maria Blaisse is pretty interesting, check on her website how it fits.


A bootie by Alfredo Häberli, a designer from Zurich, perfect for the rainy days...


Jaime Hayon who already designed Camper's stores around the world, imagined what looks like a fine comfy boot inspired by the boxing shoes. And I particularly liked Bernhard Willhelm's models you can see below.




As Hospital was also one of the place where we could spend our vouchers (I had already used mine at Elsa), check here what Steve chose.



As for Tony, after trying several pair of shoes, he opted for this shiny Officine Creative shoes, a choice I totally approve!


As I learnt when I was there, the adjoining restaurant and wine bar, The Glorious, also belongs to Hospital's owner and pretty soon a luxury bed and breakfast with three distinctive rooms will open. Surely a fine place to spend a week-end in one of the trendiest Antwerp's districts.

Check on the Facebook Page what my fellow bloggers thought about Hospital.

Hospital
de Burburestraat 4, 2000 Antwerp
tel. + 32 (0)3 311 89 80

The Glorious @ Hospital
de Burburestraat 4a, 2000 Antwerp
tel. + 32 (0)3 237 06 13