A Thing for Concept Stores

September 9, 2017September 8, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

According to the web, the sophisticated term ‘concept store’ is a place where new ideas are put together in a bid to enhance the shopper experience and sell a wider selection of goods to the client. What’s more, many concept stores offer ‘experimental’ elements such as a café or exhibition space, building a connection with shoppers seeking a particular lifestyle. Although that sounds quite exhaustive, concept stores are my favourite type of places, as you can truly explore and try out different smaller brands, rather than one established label – and all that under one roof. Here are the four concept store I’ve recently visited while staying in Antwerp and Berlin.

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Damoy is Florence Cools’ world. Here, she curates and sells brand-treasures coming from Belgium, France, Sweden and Denmark that have a kind of modern-romantic knack. Among the racks at her second, newly opened boutique in Antwerp, you will find a local favourite knitwear brand, I Love Mr. Mittens, but also such Scandi-chic pearls as Cecilie Copenhagen. The interior – lovely, warm minimalism – is more than remarkable.

Steenhouwersvest 46 / Antwerp

I know and admire Graanmarkt 13 for years. At the end of a small old square, there it is: a large, cozy space called just like its address. Designed by Vincent Van Buysen, filled with natural light and eclectic furniture, we’ve got the most charming place in the whole Antwerp. The store lately had a transition moment, when they switched from such renowned brands like Marni and Isabel Marant into timeless and more niche ones like Lemaire or Sofie D’hoor. The aim was to stop being a victim of fashion industry’s pace of endless trends and collections, and to stay true to personal style and love for quality. While the store itself is already a fantastic place in its concept, Graanmarkt 13 is also a beautiful restaurant serving organic food (downstairs) and a far-fetched apartment for rent (top floor).

Graanmarkt 13 / Antwerp

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In the heart of Kreuzberg district, Voo Store defines the word “cool“. The concept store – hidden in a former locksmith shop patio – is an industrial space selling brands like Raf Simons, J.W. Anderson, Acne Studios, but also a selection of Prada’s menswear collection. You can relax and read niche magazines, while taking a sip of delightful coffee from their Companion Coffee place located in the other part of the store.

Oranienstraße 24 / Berlin

The Corner is Berlin’s classic. Combined with installations coming from local artists and a book / beauty section, The Corner has every brands you will love this and the next season: Raf Simon’s Calvin Klein, Jacquemus, Balenciaga, Vetements and many, many more. But also, such ultimate favourites like Céline or Dries Van Noten. Just around the corner (no pun intended…) there’s their menswear shop, while near Kurfürstendamm you’ve got one more location, but smaller, with a more off-duty selection.

Französische Straße 40 / Berlin

Photos by Edward Kanarecki.

Antwerp’s Finest Houses

September 7, 2017June 11, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

At Dries Van Noten.

Entering Ann Demeulemeester‘s spacious store is like approaching the church alter. The Belgian fashion designer’s dark romance oozes from the lace vests, fragile headpieces and Victorian frocks with absorbing power, while the multi-storey boutique has a sacred charm about it. The white-wall backdrop makes you look at the details of the clothes with great scrutiny, breathless. Ann’s fashion used to be pure poetry with a Flemish twist, and fortunately, Sebastian Meunièr, the current creative director, successfully conveys the Demeulemeester codes in his collections. And with the help of the Antwerp flagship store – which also holds the studio and atelier – Ann Demeulmeester appears to be one of the finest of Belgian fashion.

Leopold de Waelplaats

Other than Ann Demeulemeester, there’s also Dries Van Noten and A.F. Vandevorst, who make contemporary Belgian fashion so crucial. The building, in which you see the Van Noten boutique, is fully owned by the designer and is gracefully called Het Modepalais (‘fashion palace’). The name might sound quite over-the-top, but the store is far from that term. It’s like Dries’ fashion – refined with an edge. It feels like an apartment that is currently ‘furnished’ with the designer’s mesmerising clothes and accessories from his 100th collection. Fresh bouquets of hydrangeas bring even more chic to this (literally) fashionable townhouse. What’s interesting, Dries Van Noten really is a local treasure of Antwerp. That’s evident from the moment you start observing the clients – the crowd of mature, aware-of-themselves women trying on floral dresses and passionately advising on their purchases with their patient (and equally stylish) husbands is surprising. Observing this scene is beautiful and heartwarming in its own way. Meanwhile, trying on faux-furs and preciously embellished sweaters at the menswear floor is double the pleasure…

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A.F. Vandevorst‘s store is small, but dynamic. The brand is known for off-kilter, punky attitude – better get your hands on those chunky knits and signature, pointy-toe boots. They sell out quickly. The braver once might want to indulge themselves in kinky, PVC coats and patchwork dresses coming from the brand’s latest venture into haute couture world.

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All photos from Antwerp are by Edward Kanarecki.

Antwerp Love

September 7, 2017June 11, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Mum!

I’ve been actually absent on the blog for over a week, because I took a road trip to Antwerp (that ended up with visiting Knokke, Amsterdam and Berlin, too). I adore this magnificient Belgian city and I really wouldn’t mind living in it one day. I love the fact that whenever I visit it, it’s always so fresh with new places and ideas. First of all, the fashion factor – my favourites like Dries Van Noten, Raf Simons, Ann Demeulemeester and of course Martin Margiela started out in here – makes it so important to me. But its also all about those romantic streets and magical light that makes Antwerp that appealing to me. For now, here are some of my photos / favourite details from the city.

Posts on fantastic spots will come up soon. However, I’m completely puzzled right now -how to manage with writing about Antwerp, while being in tune with the approaching New York Fashion Week? Busy days ahead.

Quinten Mestdagh

August 2, 2017August 2, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

I know I wrote that before, but Instagram really is a treasure chest of creatives who deserve the spotlight. A casual morning scroll-down-of-my-feed later and here I’m with Quinten Mestdagh‘s powerful collection, which has been presented during the last fashion show of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. The designer is a third-year graduate of the school, which breeded the famous Antwerp Six, and already makes a unique mark on the Belgian fashion scene. Quinten’s voluminous garments electrify the viewer with their texture, colour and imagery. Speaking of the last, its the designer’s visible strenght in ‘Dodge This’ collection. “I have always been attracted by highly stylized images in fashion magazines and advertisements. Last summer, I started collecting pictures in the archive of the MoMu library in Antwerp. With those images, I made collages and paper 3D experiments to create tension and roughness, contrasting with the beauty found in fashion photography. I then approached the garments as abstract panels for the images,” Quinten told ASVOF. With faces of fashion models and icons like Nico, Karen Elson or Princess Elizabeth of Toro as prints, the designer emphasizes and embraces extreme femininity in form of modern-day ball gowns and statuesque skirts. Just wow.

Photos via Quinten’s Instagram / by Michaël Smits.

Orient. Christian Wijnants AW17

March 10, 2017March 10, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

In his autumn-winter 2017 fashion show, Christian Wijnants celebrated the idea of a world with no borders. Not being too referential about the orient, he and his in-house studio developed one-of-a-kind prints which had a lot to do with traditional paisley and Persian rugs patterns. A brilliant remix of oriental rhythms and booming beats were another clue of the designer’s inspiration. However, the styling of those flowing maxi-dresses and skirts was purely European. In bold colours of orange, green and purple, the Belgian designer focused on the technical side of his clothes: the pleats were made of polyamide to keep the silhouette, while the sweaters were of highest quality Alpaca and other yarns to satisfy a Wijnants client for years. At the Le Marais showroom, to see and touch the clothes, I’ve spotted that the python boots in yellow were the star among the buyers. No wonder why.