Antwerp Fashion Festival 2026: The Myth of the ‘Six of Antwerp’ Turns 40
Forty years after a group of six unknown designers from Antwerp loaded a van full of clothes and drove to London, the city is preparing to celebrate the enduring legacy of the so-called “Antwerp Six” with its first-ever city-wide fashion festival. Running from June 4 to 7, 2026, the Antwerp Fashion Festival will feature runway shows, exhibitions, and installations from some 28 designers, marking the 40th anniversary of the moment Belgian fashion conquered the world stage.
The Birth of a Myth
In 1986, the six designers — Dirk Bikkembergs, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, and Marina Yee — had all recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (RAoFA). Belgium was, as exhibition co-curator Geert Bruloot puts it, a “fashion no-man’s land.” The country’s textile industry was in crisis, and the nation had no fashion identity of its own.
Bruloot, an entrepreneur who owned the avant-garde shoe store Coccodrillo, convinced the six to travel together to the British Designer Show in London. “I had to argue hard to get us admitted to the show,” Bruloot recalled. “People couldn’t believe that there could be good designers from Belgium.”
Once there, they were relegated to the third floor, wedged between wedding dresses and kinky latex. Marina Yee created improvised flyers that the group distributed downstairs. On the second day, Barney’s New York came up to see them and placed orders, triggering a media frenzy.
It was the English-language media that coined the term “Antwerp Six” — partly because their Flemish names were difficult for Anglophones to pronounce. “It was the situation that created this name and this fame,” Bruloot told RTBF. “And it only lasted for three years.”
Never a True Collective
Despite the enduring label, the six designers were never an actual collective. They never collaborated on collections or presented together as a formal group. After attending the British Designer Show together five times, each designer went their separate way to Paris.
“They went to London together because they could not do it alone,” Bruloot explains. “But they went to Paris as individuals. That’s actually where the Six stops.”
Yet the myth only grew. “The thing is, after this period in London up to today, none of us have done anything to feed this myth of the Antwerp Six,” Bruloot noted. “It has continued on its own and has only grown. That’s a fantastic story. It’s a unique story in fashion history.”
The MoMu Exhibition
Since March 28, the MoMu (Antwerp Fashion Museum) has been hosting a major exhibition titled “The Antwerp Six,” running through January 17, 2027. Co-curated by Bruloot and MoMu director Kaat Debo, the exhibition features individual installations for each of the six designers, showcasing career highlights and iconic pieces.
“Today, the concept of the ‘Antwerp Six’ has almost mythical status,” Debo said. “They single-handedly put Antwerp on the world map as a fashion city and as a breeding ground for talent and creativity.”
The exhibition received a wave of international press inquiries upon its announcement, underscoring the lasting fascination with the group.
The First Antwerp Fashion Festival
The festival itself, organized by Flanders District of Creativity and the City of Antwerp in collaboration with MoMu, has been deemed “a flagship Flemish event” by the Flemish government. Walter Van Beirendonck — the only member of the Six still heading his own fashion house — is staging “40 Years of Dreaming the World Awake,” an anniversary show on June 4, skipping his usual Paris Fashion Week slot.
Other participants include Christian Wijnants, Jan-Jan Van Essche, Julie Kegels, and Royal Academy creative director Brandon Wen, who succeeded Van Beirendonck as head of the fashion department in 2022. The festival also features the annual RAoFA student fashion show and the 2026 edition of Fashion Talks, a conference series running since 2013.
“Antwerp remains a breeding ground for exceptional fashion talent,” said Leen Gysen, CEO of Visit Flanders. “What makes this new generation of designers so special is their ability to effortlessly combine craftsmanship, innovation and social relevance.”
A Lasting Legacy
The influence of the Antwerp Six extends far beyond their own careers. The RAoFA fashion program became an international benchmark, attracting students from around the world. Notable alumni include Raf Simons (Prada), Demna Gvasalia (Balenciaga), Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski (Hermès), and Glenn Martens (Diesel).
“During the entrance exam, our students still name the Antwerp Six as their favorite designers,” said Brandon Wen. The Six are credited with launching the “anti-fashion” movement that rejected the glamorous, colorful aesthetic of the 1980s epitomized by Versace and Claude Montana.
As the city prepares to welcome fashion lovers from around the world for its first festival, one thing is clear: the myth of the Antwerp Six — a group that was never really a group — continues to shape the fashion world four decades on.
What to Watch For
The Antwerp Fashion Festival runs June 4-7, 2026, while the MoMu exhibition “The Antwerp Six” continues through January 17, 2027. The festival promises to showcase both the enduring legacy of the Six and the next generation of Belgian fashion talent.