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Three young Brussels-based designers to keep an eye on

10:58 18/12/2018

When it comes to internationally renowned fashion schools, the reputation of La Cambre Mode[s] is up there alongside Central Saint Martins in London. Established in 1986 as part of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre, the Brussels fashion school produces graduates who have consistently taken key roles at some of the best fashion houses in Paris and Milan. Alumni include Anthony Vaccarello, creative director at Yves Saint Laurent, Julien Dossena, creative director at Paco Rabanne, and Cédric Charlier, who was artistic director at Cacharel before leaving to create his own brand in 2012.

It’s no surprise then that the graduation show weekend is a hot date in Europe’s designer circles. Presided over by an international jury, it showcases the end-of-year collections of all years, most importantly those of graduating fifth-year master’s students, whose collections open the door to their futures.

This year’s exceptional master’s talent includes Cyril Bourez, with his double award-winning collection of paternity wear. “It started with me wondering what I wanted to be in the future and the first thing that came to my mind was that I want to be a father, I want to have children,” he explains. “I thought about how I would like to interact with my children and how my clothes should be if I want to carry them for long periods of time, play in mud or keep them dry from the rain, and what it does to the shape of clothes if a child pulls at trousers or you sit a child on your shoulders.”

Handmade babygrows and kangaroo pockets appear on sweaters and smocks to carry and cuddle children, extra sleeves are attached for anyone else who might also want to snuggle, wraparound oversized coats protect from the elements, jeans turn into boots and waterproofing detail allows for puddle splashing. Bourez wins the Mad Brussels (Mode & Design Center) Award of €1,000 towards a professional lookbook and the 254 Forest Award of professional advice for video and website creation.

Rebecca Szmidt took the inspiration for her final-year master’s collection from Kurdish women combatants fighting IS to keep their emancipation. “These are very strong women, warrior women. Women who know what they want,” she says. Usually aged between 18 to 25 and dressed in standard army issue uniforms, some wear colourful floral scarves over their heads and faces to protect from sand and dust. Szmidt transposes these into balaclava-like hoods and headdresses, tied fetishistically with knots, symbolising strength, power and the tension between perceived masculine and feminine roles.

Nothing is as it appears; feminine swathes that appear to be skirts in a riot of pattern and colour are actually practical culottes made with new engineered textiles. Despite its rampant exoticism, the collection is a coherent and beautiful assault on the senses. It has won Szmidt the Elle Academy award, Etoile de Bazar Award and Atomium Award, which will ensure her magazine exposure, a multimedia documentary and a €2,000 start to professional life.

There’s a fluidity and sway to the 12 looks that make up Clément Grangier’s final-year collection, winner of the Pascaline Smets award. Grangier’s inspiration comes from the 1975 Chantal Akerman film Jean Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, in which a day of a woman unfurls in real time. “I was always interested in the relationship of garments to daily life, and in this film, we can really see every movement, what’s happening in real time in a day. I decided to take movement and depict it with clothes,” he says. The award provides for a dedicated 15-day pop-up space to show his collection, a communication plan that offers national and international visibility and a prize of €2,500.

The Brussels Invest & Export prize of €2,000 for the most promising fourthyear master’s student went to Marguerite Barroux to help organise an internship at an internationally renowned house of fashion.

This article first appeared in WAB (Wallonia and Brussels) magazine

Written by Saffina Rana