MoMu celebrates four decades since the Antwerp Six stormed London’s catwalks, reshaping the language of European fashion. The upcoming exhibition invites us to revisit their shared rebellion and singular voices, tracing how a small group of graduates turned Antwerp into a global creative epicentre.
The Antwerp Six, 1986
From MoMu – Fashion Museum Antwerp, the exhibition The Antwerp Six opens on March 28, 2026, and runs until January 17, 2027. Curated by Geert Bruloot together with Kaat Debo and Romy Cockx, the show looks beyond myth to examine how six distinct visions converged into a cultural shift. When six young designers from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp drove a van filled with their collections to London in 1986, they were unknown. Within days, they were a phenomenon.
Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkembergs, Dirk Van Saene and Marina Yee, later known as the Antwerp Six, redirected fashion’s centre of gravity through experimentation, lyricism and an unmistakable attitude. Their debut at the British Designer Show challenged the dominance of Paris and Milan, and reframed what a designer collective could mean without sacrificing individuality. The exhibition presents early student work alongside landmark runway pieces, showing the leap from raw beginnings to global influence, and how each designer’s language thrives in conversation with the others.
The narrative follows the group’s formative years in Antwerp, their breakthrough in London and the ripple effects that shaped Belgian fashion’s identity of independence. Archival garments, sketches, imagery and documentation trace how a spirit of self-determination matured into a durable legacy that remains sharply relevant today.
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