In March 2026, Antwerp’s fashion museum MoMu will unveil a landmark exhibition to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of a moment that changed the trajectory of Belgian fashion forever.

The Antwerp Six—Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Marina Yee, Dirk Bikkembergs, and Dirk Van Saene—first gained international acclaim in 1986 when they presented their avant-garde collections at the British Designer Show in London’s Olympia Hall. 

One van, one stand, six designers

Sharing a single van and exhibition stand, the group of recent graduates from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts made a bold, low-budget move that would place Belgium on the global fashion map. 

Their stark, minimalist designs stood in stark contrast to the colourful excesses of 1980s haute couture and left the international press stunned. Faced with their unfamiliar Flemish names, the British media dubbed them simply ‘The Antwerp Six’.

One exhibition 

Forty years later, MoMu will bring their work together for the very first time in a single exhibition. Running from 28 March 2026 to 17 January 2027, ‘The Antwerp Six’ will explore the distinctive paths each designer took after that defining moment, while also highlighting the creative threads that continue to connect them. 

The museum has planned an extensive public programme to accompany the show.

Dries Van Noten 

Dries Van Noten (° 12 May 1958), one of the most internationally recognised names of the group, made headlines in 2024 when he announced his retirement after nearly four decades in the fashion industry. 

Known for his elegant yet wearable collections, bold prints, and refined control over every aspect of his label, Van Noten presented his final collection in Paris and passed the torch to Julian Klausner, who had co-designed women’s collections at the house since 2018. 

Never one to rest, Van Noten has since acquired the 15th-century Palazzo Pisani Moretta in Venice, with plans to transform the building into a cultural space devoted to arts and crafts.

Dirk Van Saene

Dirk Van Saene (° 1 March 1959), by contrast, chose to keep his career deliberately small-scale. Rejecting the commercial pressures of the fashion system, he focused on maintaining creative autonomy through his own label. 

In recent years, he has shifted his attention from fashion to ceramics. His exhibitions in Antwerp have showcased an introspective artistic journey that flourished during the isolation of the COVID-19 lockdowns. 

He now works independently and at his own pace, free from industry demands. Van Saene has long been a couple with fellow Antwerp Six member Walter Van Beirendonck; they met as students and married in 2019.

Ann Demeulemeester

Ann Demeulemeester (° 29 December 1959) also stepped back from fashion more than a decade ago. In 2013, she left her eponymous label, explaining that it had developed a strong enough identity to continue without her. 

Like Van Saene, she turned to ceramics—specifically porcelain—training in the United Kingdom and France before launching a successful tableware line with Belgian design label Serax. This partnership eventually expanded into lighting, glasses, furniture, and even perfume. Her design ethos remains intact: sculptural, monochrome, and focused on form over decoration.

Walter Van Beirendonck

Walter Van Beirendonck (° 4 February 1957), often described as the most flamboyant of the Six, built his career around bold, eccentric collections filled with unconventional colours and graphic references to literature, art, and world cultures. 

After a rocky start, he found his footing and became not only a respected designer but also an influential educator. 

He taught at the Antwerp Academy for decades and later served as its director, stepping down in 2022. Van Beirendonck remains creatively active, having just shown a new spring collection in Paris inspired by his childhood memories.

Dirk Bikkembergs

Dirk Bikkembergs (° 2 January 1959) carved a different path by fusing high fashion with sport. Long before athleticwear became mainstream in luxury fashion, Bikkembergs was sending models down the runway in football-inspired designs.

His white sneakers with colourful bands became iconic, and his use of real footballers as models garnered global attention. In 2003, he became the official designer for Inter Milan and was the first to stage a fashion show at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona. 

He eventually sold his label in 2011, and today, the brand is under the ownership of a Chinese retailer. Bikkembergs himself has largely stepped away from the public eye.

Marina Yee

Marina Yee (° 1958) remains perhaps the most elusive of the Six. After initially withdrawing from the fashion spotlight in the late 1980s, she re-emerged through occasional collaborations, designing for Belgian labels and working in costume and children’s wear. 

A turning point came in 2016 when a Japanese collector acquired her archive. Yee created a limited collection for his shop, reigniting interest in her work. Her focus has always been on sustainability and artistic freedom, long before such values became fashionable. 

More recently, with the encouragement of young designer Rafael Adriaensens, she has begun producing new collections—true to her ethos and free of commercial compromise—which now appear in select concept stores, including Louis in Antwerp.

Putting Antwerp on the fashion map

Together, the Antwerp Six represent a singular chapter in the history of contemporary fashion. Their breakthrough was not only a cultural milestone for Belgium but a reshaping of what fashion could be—conceptual, personal, resistant to conformity. 

MoMu’s upcoming exhibition is not simply a retrospective, but a celebration of a legacy that continues to inspire.

Art and museums in Antwerp

• ANTWERP | Museum Mayer van den Bergh opens exhibition ‘Public Favourites’, from Mad Meg to Delft Blue, look at art through other people’s eyes.
• ANTWERP | Museum Night 2025 on Saturday 2 August.
• ANTWERP | Middelheim Museum celebrates 75 years with a summer full of new ways to experience the art park.
• M HKA 2025 |​ Bruno Zhu – Panamarenko – ‘The Situation is Fluid’ – Today’s Place – Hugo Roelandt.
• ANTWERP | ‘These Branching Moments’ – ‘.tiff 2025′ – ”OM/MOTHER’: 3 new exhibitions at FOMU, from 28 June 2025.
• ANTWERP | ‘Panamarenko. Infinite Imagination’ exhibition until 4 May 2025 at KMSKA.
• ANTWERP | ‘Compassion’ in the MAS: the many faces of compassion.
• 2025 at the museums of Antwerp.
• 2025 at Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp (KMSKA): René Magritte, Marthe Donas, Panamarenko, Hans Op de Beeck.
• ANTWERP | Graphics Museum De Reede ft. Francisco Goya, Edvard Munch, Félicien Rops and Albrecht Dürer.
• ANTWERP | Rubens Experience and Rubens Garden at Rubenshuis.
• Antwerp will have a new Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp M HKA.
• ANTWERP | Innovations in the Middelheim Museum provide a completely new visitor experience.
• A visit of the Flemish Tram and Bus Museum – Vlaams Tram- en Autobusmuseum (VlaTAM) in Antwerp.
• ANTWERP | Discovering queer(ed) art with the Queer Tour at the KMSKA fine arts museum.
• REVIEW | Illusion Antwerpen, an active and photogenic museum.
• Antwerp museums and sports facilities team up with European Disability Card for accessible leisure activities.
• Museum Mayer van den Bergh.
• ANTWERP | Inside Rubens House.
• Museum Plantin-Moretus in Antwerp.
• ANTWERP | Museum Vleeshuis up for restoration.
• BOOK | ‘Antwerp. An Archaeological View on the Origin of the City’ by Tim Bellens.
• Red Star Line Museum.
• Paleis op de Meir. 
• DIVA, Antwerp Home of Diamonds.
• ANTWERP | Red Star Line Museum of (e)migration.