Paris, Fashion Week Fall-Winter 2017-2018, March 1, 2017. Wearing a boyfriend jeans and an orange satin breasted coat, Kristina De Coninck opens the centenary parade Dries Van Noten. Smile to her lips, she sweeps the audience with an emotional look as if to look for familiar faces with whom to share this unique moment. On an immaculate floor, current models and top models of the 90's accustomed to the brand follow her in creations that showcase emblematic prints from the archives. Dries Van Noten often states, "The most important thing is that my clothes provide an emotion." And, with this historic retrospective parade, this is the case more than ever.
"The 100 th parade was a celebration in itself and I wanted it to continue," said Dries Van Noten. Since, on the site of the house, the heading 'Silent Archive' brings together the first hundred fashion shows in aphone version. A way to return to the very essence of the parade: the primacy of the garment.
But it's not just these hundred videos that offer the opportunity to attend or re-attend any of these shows. Because this month, Dries Van Noten publishes at Lannoo editions two beautiful books that go into detail about the history of the brand.
A dive in the heart of the archives
A true encyclopedia in two volumes, these books open the doors of the archives of the house and offer an original dive. Through more than 2000 photos most of which have never been published, they retrace each of the one hundred collections. From the scenography of the parades to the backstage, the invitation cards and the designer's inspiration boards, the entire Dries Van Noten spirit is explored. Simply titled Dries Van Noten 1-50 and Dries Van Noten 51-100 , the first covers parades 1 to 50 and the second parades 51 to 100.
Written by two internationally renowned fashion journalists, the texts explain the images and decipher the multitude of references that cross each parade. Editor-in-chief of AnOther Magazine, Susannah Frankel has analyzed women's collections, male collections are commented by Tim Blanks of Business of Fashion.
"It is very exciting to have all the parades together in this special object that is the book, and to be able to remember and understand the context and the inspirations through images and texts" rejoices Dries Van Noten. Like his clothes, these books are above all a matter of transmission.
The art of digging its singular groove
A graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in 1982, the Antwerp-based designer is from the same class as Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Marina Yee, Dirk Van Saene and Dirk Bikkembergs, leaders in fashion before Belgian guard with which he forms the group of "Six of Antwerp". It is with them that he presents his first collection in London in 1986. First specialized in men's clothing - his first parade for men takes place in 1991 in his Paris showroom - he presents his first women's show in 1993.
While the fashion of the 90s is minimalist, Dries Van Noten stands out for his mastery of color, embroidery and prints that will become among the most emblematic codes of his brand. Between shadow and light, his palette consists mainly of bright and dark colors that he likes to associate on clothes with irreproachable cuts.
From the tailoring profession that his parents used to practice, Dries Van Noten established a grammar and a repertory of form that were his own. Appearingly classic, his creations are in fact of a great technicality and give pride of place to the ornament. Floral, Asian and exotic inspirations embellish natural and luxurious materials like silk. In 2008, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) rewards this work of esthete and awards him the prize of the best creator.
With these two books, Dries Van Noten recontextualizes each parade. He also shares the myriad of emotions that have gone through the process of creating each collection, from their genesis to their culmination. Invitation to discover or rediscover his work, these two works go through the history of a brand that has resisted the sirens of large groups. They are also the memory of a decisive chapter in the history of fashion.
Dries Van Noten 1-50 , Dries Van Noten 51-100 , Lannoo Publishing.
Each copy is sold separately (69 €) or in a limited edition box (140 €).
