I remember a cold evening, about 15 years ago, when I managed to gain entry to the MoMu in Antwerp right before closing time to see a Stephen Jones exhibit; my press card meant I got in when most visitors were on their way out. Walking through the space, with the statuesque mannequins and even more imposing millinery staring down at me in the near-quiet museum, remains one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Some years later, there was the wonderful happenstance of being in London at the same time as Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion at the V&A Museum. Unlike MoMu, this was by no means a bubble momentāthere was much jostling but a lot of collective sighing, too, the revolving displays zooming in on the remarkable construction that marked the pieces made by the designer that Christian Dior considered the āmaster of us allā. The bragging aside, the point Iām trying to make is that there are some travel-worthy fashion exhibits underway right nowāat MoMu and the V&A incidentally.
At Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at the V&A, on till November, gain an insight into the weirdly wonderful mind of the designer who drew from Surrealism. In this world of trompe lāoeil sweaters, skeleton dresses, and buttons that are worth their own display cases, nothing is just what it seems like. This year is also the 40th anniversary of the Antwerp Six. In 1986, six Belgian designersāAnn Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Dries Van Saene, Walter Von Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkembergs, and Marine Yeeāput Antwerp on the global fashion map by showing their designs at the British Designer Show in London. At the MoMu, you can see how they did that. Would you travel for these?
