| Bart's Blog |
|
|
|
Fashion Graduate Bart Adriaensen reports on life, fashion and parties in Belgium...
And I go on to say my goodbyes… Sorry it has taken so long to write something down; things have been rather crazy lately here in Antwerp. I ended up getting hired at Véronique Branquinho. So I finally have a steady income. YAY!! The job itself is nothing fancy though… just a lot of paperwork. I’ve noticed how most jobs in fashion are not as glamorous as they may seem to outsiders. They’re usually just bloody hard work. BUT, it has to be said… the perks are nice… and I get to spend time with creative people. I am surprised at how quickly I managed to immerse myself in the avant-garde. I had always set out to do so, but I thought it would take me at least a couple more years… So getting this job at Véronique really was a leap for me. Kind of proud of myself! ;-)
Picture taken from: www.style.com Ever since I started in fashion, quite often I was approached who were more interested in what I do, what I wear and… in my pretty face (which in a way is a compliment, but it gets boring after a while) than in me as a person. They just didn’t seem to engage with me unconditionally, so I got hurt a couple of times. And all this culminated recently… I have two driving forces in my life: fashion and love. Fashion is how I express myself; love is what I express. Both have taught me an important lesson. It’s all about staying true to yourself and not being afraid to love. You’ll get fucking hurt, but it’s all worth it. I’ve learnt that I am able to love unconditionally and that I can genuinely care for someone and know how to show it. So I guess I’m not that bad really. I deserve the best there is, and from now on, I will not settle for anything less. So on that note, I decided to go to Paris for Véronique’s show longer than one day. I arrived the day before the show and headed straight for the showroom where the fittings were going on. When I got there, Amanda Moore was trying on her outfits… or was it Marina Perez, I can never tell the two apart. Whoever she was, she was having fun… strutting her stuff in emerald green glossy pumps on Soft Cell’s Sex Dwarf. Hilarious!! I as dressing for the day, which was great, because I got to feel the collection… and it felt good… especially the spandex leggings and jumpsuits. Everyone was nervous, but no bitchiness. My colleagues are all dolls truly, and we all work hard. And the effort paid off! On the day of the show, I was dressing the models for the catalogue shots. Everyone – especially Eva, Véronique’s assistant – kept insisting I put the clothes back on the correct spot, which drove me nuts, but it was all good in the end. Over 1000 people showed up… it was truly crazy. So those faxes I sent out the past months got the message across just fine. The show started with a loud rumble of thunder… Marianne Faithful… jersey sack dresses… spandex… black pumps… green pumps… grey denim… tuxedo jackets… girls who are boys… post-modern ambiguity but everything is not lost. 20 minutes and it was all over… the impressions I got are priceless. “Stop pushing me. I’m doing my work.” or “ Let her pass, she’s a fashion editor!”. Sure, aren’t we all? And that was not the end. After the show, we immediately hit the showroom, as everything had to be prepared as selling started the day after. The energy was really good as everyone was on a buzz after a good show! At 9pm, all of us – that is 17 people – were in Les Gamins du Marais, a great bistro in Le Marais in Paris. Véronique was slightly tipsy, but she was hilarious! I bumped into her the next day on the rue Vieille du Temple… in her snakeskin pumps, grey narrow jeans and black tuxedo jacket. We chatted for a little while until she had to dash off to the showroom. I went for a little stroll to let everything sink in.
I was supposed to stay for another night with my friend Jan, who was in Paris for the showroom of a jewellery designer from L.A. – I forget his name. But due to strikes in Belgium I was forced to leave early, so I didn’t get to see him. It was disappointing because when we both were in London, his spiritualism and his well-rounded views on life, love and fashion were what that kept me sane. He currently works as a consultant in NYC… and I think I’ll go there soon to pay him a visit. (So Jan, keep your eyes on your email! And I promise I’ll have some ideas when I see you. You know I’m not running away from you!) After Paris, I started fulltime at Véronique. And what a week that was!! Worked hard on the preparation of our sample sale (which will be taking place on November 3, 4 and 5… a little piece of advertising, hehe!). Last Friday, unfortunately, my grandmother died. I was with her when she went, which was a powerful experience; cleansing for everyone, including her. But beyond her death, it’s at times like these you get to know who your real friends are.
Luckily, I had to go to London the following Monday for a guest lecture I had to give at my college. It was on Belgian fashion and how its success can be understood in a broader socio-cultural perspective. It was a success; I got some really good feedback. And it was great to see everyone again. I never thought I’d say it, but there’s definitely things I miss about London. My friends for one. But I cannot return there. There’s little left of the life I had there; so if I’m going to start over, I’ll do it somewhere else. I don’t think I’ll be staying in London for a very long time though… a year or two max… I love my life here, but I wonder how much I’ll be able to grow if I stay. Even while working at Branquinho, I’m still looking for something else. Yesterday, I had an interview with Bruno Pieters to become head of production. I want that job so badly! But it would mean staying in Belgium… There’s also the offer of Viktor&Rolf to come intern with them in Amsterdam. It sounds great, and it is, but it also seems complicated... I’d have to move again, and work part-time on the side to finance the whole experience. I’d do it, but preferably, I’d do something that enables me to earn money. However, it is a great offer, so I’m still considering.
Talk to you soon! Bart***
Other than that, I went to London for London Fashion Week, where I was a runner in the British Fashion Council tent. I only did it to see some shows, which I managed to do. It all started with Julien MacDonald’s show. I was not very impressed; I don’t really see the novelty of a denim miniskirt worn over a black feathery babydoll… Too trashy for me, but it made me understand why MacDonald chose to return to London to show; I really cannot see this stuff work in Paris…
Other shows were Amanda Wakeley and Jenny Packham, both showing extremely commercial collections, but in fabrics that are probably hideously expensive. As my friend Kristy Colòn aptly remarked: “It seems like TopShop puked all over this place.” The only exciting moment of the whole LFW experience was Jens Laugesen’s collection. It showed asexual – not androgynous (!) – models in tuxedo-inspired outfits, and draped and multi-layered dresses that are reminiscent of Nicolas Ghesquière’s aquarium dresses he did for Balenciaga (see them on Kylie in her video for Body Language, you know, the one where she’s purring like a cat amidst all these hot boys in swimming trunks, appropriately set at a swimming pool… ain’t fashion easy???). Laugesen stuck to minimalism – YAY!!! – only using black, off-white and baby-pink. Wonderfully moving and very strong!
Strangely enough, even though conceptually Laugesen’s collection was the most interesting I saw, it was the one that had the lowest attendance. No Trinny in sight – not that she would understand, but that’s another story… It made me think of how much high end fashion coming from London is influenced by what is happening on the high street, where it used to be the other way around. I may be seeing this the wrong way though, but I honestly believe London is not where fashion happens. It is still Paris in my opinion where true creativity flourishes. It also made me think of other fashion capitals, like New York, where fashion is also more conservative and middle of the road. I’m still trying to make sense of it all, so do help me out here.
Finally, today, I went to the Katharina Prospekt exhibition at the MoMu, the Flanders Fashion Institute’s fashion museum. It’s curated by Belgian design duo A.F. Vandevorst, who were asked to represent their view of past and contemporary Russia. Overall, the exhibition is very strong. It is a good mix of an objective study of Russian society and its implications in fashion and a subjective overview of A.F. Vandevorst’s personal universe as reflected. It’s hard to put into words, but it felt like being in their studio, and seeing them conceive a collection. I thoroughly enjoyed the projection room where they showed videos of pretty much all their runway shows, from the very beginning up until now. I was truly moved by the Belgian-ness of it all. The melancholy at times was unbearable, as was the glamour of it all, especially in the fur room where dozens of full fur coats were shown. After a night out at Le Mirano, this was the perfect close to my week, completely melancholy.
I am unhappily happy…
On that note, I’m going to bed. Talk to you soon.
Bart*** Well helleuw... I’m sorry... it’s been a while again before I posted another entry. But here I am, and going strong. Today is the first day of sunshine in weeks here in Antwerp. Some summer, huh! So I’m sitting here on my balcony watching life go by… Pondering away! Okay the job hunt is getting to me. Been sending out lots of resumes, but so far nothing much has happened. I managed to get an internship at Véronique Branquinho, one of the new generation Belgian designers working here in Antwerp. And I had an interview with Louis Vuitton on Wednesday for a retail position in their branch in Antwerp. The interview went well, but they have three other suitable candidates. I’ll know next week.
I mentioned to them that I’d only be able to start after October 11th, which is when my internship would terminate. I was told that if they really wanted me, they’d wait for me. So today, I accepted to do the internship at Branquinho. It’s great though, because it’s the kind of fashion I enjoy working with. It’ll be similar to what I did at Xavier Delcour. I’ll be assisting in the preparation of the showroom sales, but it seems I’ll have more responsibilities than I had at Xavier. They want me to organise dressers, book tickets and hotels, contact buyers, and do administrative work. So I’ll be low key, but I like the feeling as it’ll enable me to keep my eyes open and soak up ALL the information I need. I have noticed how much of an outsider to the Belgian scene I have become after leaving for London. I have completely lost track of who works for whom and who is affiliated with whom… Interning at Branquinho will probably enable me to regain that knowledge and it’ll be easier to enter the scene here. The Belgian fashion scene is terribly small, so it is difficult to get your foot in. And who knows… something might come out of interning with Branquinho. Obviously they haven’t seen me at work yet, so this is a good way of proving myself. And I’ll continue job-hunting in the meantime! I’m also gearing my attention away from Antwerp. I’ve spoken to Linda at ModoBruxellae, an organisation that promotes fashion from and in Brussels. She got me the internship at Xavier, so I thought I’d better get in touch with her again. She believes I should definitely be able to find a job here in Belgium. She feels I stand out simply because of my years in London and my language skills. I went to Brussels to talk to Linda, and each time I’m there, I feel great! It seems there is still room for experiments in Brussels; Antwerp is more established as a fashion city. I’ve been going out in Brussels a lot this year, and the club scene there seems to be more buoyant than it is in Antwerp these days. On Saturdays, you’ll find me at this electro clash fashion party called DirtyDancing; it’s held in an old theatre, Le Mirano Continental. They have a strict door policy and aren’t shy about it. You cannot get in unless you look fabulous. Yeah, pretty elitist, I know, but the experience is superb. Too many visual – and other, hehe! - sensations to handle at times.
Anyways, it’s a place where anything goes as long as you make an effort. So in a way, it’s not as elitist. They’ve been on a break during the summer holidays, but re-opened last week. I was unable to go due to a family bash at my boyfriend’s (which was really nice… and you know I mean it, Poes!) but tomorrow I am definitely heading over to Brussels to get Dirrrty with Heidi, my cultural semiotics bimbo girlfriend. So watch this space, I’ll tell you about all the Dirt next time!
Today, I sent off a bunch of resumes to Paris. During my interview at Vuitton, the scout told me I should totally send my resume directly to head office. So I did, and I added a couple other maisons like Dior, Chanel, Lanvin, Balenciaga, Chloé, and numerous others. We’ll see what comes out of it. I’ll be doing the same for New York after the weekend… I’ve realised I will reach a point where I’ll want to leave Belgium again. Starting out here is fine, but there’s more to get in this industry, but it’s not in this country. And of course, there’s my boy and I love him to bits, but if we’re meant to be, we’ll survive. (Right, hun?) I’m really hoping for Paris now… and it’s not too far away from Ghent, or Antwerp… So I’ve been busy… No time for Fashion Theory right now… Maybe later. I will let you know. Take care guys, and talk to ya soon. Bisous Bartje***
I am so happy I left London. I was in town when the second wave of terror attacks happened. I was at college… had just checked my emails… then my friend Christine screamed my name and shouted out that more bombs had exploded. The next thing I recall is running into my friends Ali and Katrine and that we sat down in a pub on Marylebone High Street to watch the news. In the meantime I tried calling everyone back home to let them know I was okay. We all felt eerie. There was this mood of indecisiveness and not knowing where to go… and not really wanting to go anywhere. I have a problem with the British mentality though. That stiff upper lip is really starting to annoy me. As soon as the cricket came back on, the TV channels were changed, which is extremely annoying when people in Belgium know more about what’s going on than you do… I have little respect for attitudes like that. Moving on with your life, sure, I’m all for it, but this was extremely quick. So I took a Eurostar train back to Brussels the next day, as was planned. I felt very apprehensive and cautious that day, and couldn’t wait to be back in Belgium and with Frederik for some peace and quiet. But I was on guard there too, especially when I drove my car through the tunnels in Brussels… This is the Third World War we’re in… and I think we haven’t seen the last of this yet. One good thing is that things like this do help you put things into perspective… so onto more worldly matters, like FASHION! So I’ve been hunting for jobs since I last wrote. Frederik is in Spain for two weeks on holiday, so I knew I’d be lonely and bored. He asked me to come over for a couple days though, but I decided not to as I wanted to try get my life on track here. Small advancements I am pleased to say. I sent off my resume to a number of designers here, and I also sent out emails to my contacts. They’re all on holiday though, which is extremely frustrating!!! However, there’s a good chance I may have a position at Princess Blue, a store in Antwerp that stocks Helmut Lang, Viktor & Rolf, Marc Jacobs and ACNE, my favourite denim brand! I know, it’s retail, but hey, it’s cashish… www.acnejeans.com
Last time, I was going on about the difference between fashion in the US and in Europe. Generally, fashion in the US tends to be more commercially driven, sometimes to the detriment of creativity and innovation. Recently, I came across several fashion ‘cognoscenti’ supporting that claim. Paul Redfern, one of my lecturers at college in London, saw a link between American approaches to fashion and the Protestant work ethic. Contrary to Europe, where Catholicism is more strongly present, Protestantism claims that sinners can only be redeemed through divine grace, which is totally arbitrary. Because of this, sins are regarded as a sign that you’re out of God’s grace; and when you have not committed a sin, you’re probably still in God’s grace, but you can never be sure. Consequently, everything is put towards pleasing God to obtain his grace. So if you’re successful professionally, this is a sign you have God’s grace. Not making any mistakes obviously is a major concern here. Gradually, mainly because of the rise of modernity, ideas of grace have become infested with ideas of taste through the concept of ‘fashion victims’, which has enabled sociologists to link fashion with religion. In Europe, a ‘fashion victim’ is someone who is very well informed on what are the latest fashions and they will ONLY wear labels. In the US, a ‘fashion victim’ is someone who simply does NOT have it. They make one fashion mistake after the other, and are sinners against the religion that fashion has become. It is therefore understandable why American fashion is so ‘good’, classic and conservative. There is no going wrong in US fashion generally. It is not part of the history of American society to take risks because this may cause you to become a ‘sinner’ on many different levels, and consequently an outcast of society.
www.balenciaga.com It really seems to make sense to me this theory. However, there’s also simpler ways of putting it, like Nicolas Ghesquière, who designs for Balenciaga, and Isabelle Huppert, one of France’s most respected contemporary actresses put it in ID’s Migration Issue for April 2005. Huppert states, “We could say that it’s the capacity for natural sophistication. In Europe, maybe there is the capacity to access something that is elegant and yet very simple, without artifice and seemingly without effort. While in America, there is more of a desire for…” Ghesquière: “For the spectacular!” Huppert: “Yes, signs of sophistication that are immediately recognisable.” Ghesquière: “It’s true. I find that unfortunately there are some American actresses who do not know how to dress at all. We feel they are well ‘surrounded’ but that’s not very interesting.” Huppert: “I agree.” And so do I! Anyways, I’d better get to being ‘good’, and do something about my work ethic. :-) Talk soon! B***
First of all my apologies for waiting so long to post a new diary entry. It’s no excuse, but it has been truly manic here the past couple of weeks for a number of reasons. My life has been totally fragmented of late… but in a good way! How post-modern is that, huh! Okay, the main issue was graduating… I had five papers to hand in in a matter of two weeks. I’m sure you can imagine I was slightly fed up with sitting in front of a computer typing my life away… Then I had two exams crammed into two days… and I was not at all motivated to study for them. Therefore, I decided to attend the RCA fashion show the day before my last exam… not a good idea… or maybe yes because the show was great! I saw very strong collections that represented the
Onto the next big thing… moving back to And then the most important news in my life right now: I have found love and love listens to the name Frederik. Although craving for my attention – which I supplied in abundance, he was upset with me for not getting to write a new diary entry, and he was totally right. It’s a shame… So I suppose he exerts a positive influence on me… Hehe. No seriously, we’re happy and totally giving this a chance. (Ik zie u graag, poes…!) Career-wise, things are all up in the air. I had everything mapped out for the next six months. I’d be applying for MA’s at the This break is doing me good. But I have been out and about and in touch with the scene still… as is to be expected from an international fashionista jet-setter like myself… Hehe! My college in Obviously one has o take into account the fact that the US and
Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll really have to start looking for jobs… Frederik’s going to Signing off now… Watch this space for more… NEXT WEEK, and that’s a promise. Bart**
On June 23rd, I will finally graduate… A BA in Fashion Marketing… People have been asking me what my plans are. And they were expecting an answer I could not provide… I have no idea of where things are headed now. All I know is that, for a while at least, they’ll be heading back home… to
Just for those of you who are not familiar with In
Since
Fashion-wise, this all has resulted in a strong emphasis on cut and construction. No tacky glamour in Belgian fashion, or hollow concepts like femininity, elegance and beauty. Belgian fashion will question those concepts, deconstruct them and create images that will EXPRESS views on life, love, religion, art, sex, Okay, I’m exhausted… Writing this down has taken energy… It’s difficult to get your head around things like this. I think this will be the diary of a fashion philosopher. How does that sound? I’ve always wanted to re-inject the world of fashion with more substance and depth, and I believe that can only be done by looking at its social relevance, both individually and collective. I hope at some point people in this industry will be able to transcend “oh but you still look good” as their highest possible levels of empathy… I’m passionate… And anxious! Watch this space! Bart*
|
Jens Laugesen ss 05
A.F. Vandevorst ss 04
Kathania Prospekt
