MoMu and Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp celebrate reopening with “Fashion Balls”

Antwerp Fashion Museum is collaborating with students of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp to celebrate the reopening of the museum with ‘Fashion 2.021 Antwerp – Fashion/Conscious’. Together they created ‘Fashion Balls’ that will appear at various locations in Antwerp from August 5 onwards where visitors can see them during a walk through the city.

The ‘Fashion Balls’ will appear at five outdoor locations in the centre of Antwerp and will travel around during summer. The colourful balls will be installed in different sizes at iconic locations in the city. Walter Van Beirendonck, Fashion Designer and Head of the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, came up with the idea and concept for this fashion landmark in the city.

“We made it interactive and hope that everyone will be stimulated to take selfies with the city as a backdrop this way. It's a project that's very accessible – that's why we made the ‘Fashion Balls’ in all kinds of sizes. This project will appeal to both international fashion fans and casual passers-by to take part,” said Walter Van Beirendonck.

Students of the Fashion Department designed outfits to match specific balls. All the BA students could design proposals and ten looks were selected from the sketches. Eventually, the winning designs came from: Margot Verstuyft, Ekaterina Sadovskaya, Tim Stolte, Igor Dieryck, Xin Huang, Luna Moraga Garcia, Danyao Jiang, Alise Anna Dzirniece and Ching Lin Chen.

Director and Chief Curator Kaat Debo said: “The Academy's fashion department is the beating heart of Antwerp's fashion story, the place where fantastic fashion talent graduates every year. With the ‘Fashion Balls’, we're literally bringing this talent to the streets of Antwerp. Everyone has had to work, study and live in isolation for the past year. That's why we wanted to put on a playful and positive project that gives a sense of freedom and invites the passer-by to take part.”

The doors of the Antwerp Fashion Museum closed its doors in April 2018 for a big renovation and expansion. The goal was to create a place where "on a permanent basis, the story of Belgian fashion can be told, giving visitors a deeper look into our own world-renowned fashion history," according to a press release from MoMu in 2018.

The Antwerp Fashion Museum will open again on September 4. From the opening weekend on 4 and 5 September, two exhibitions can be visited already: 'E/motion.Mode in transitie' and 'Mode uit de MoMu-collection'.

Photos: MoMu Antwerp © by Ronald Stoops