ANN’S CLIQUE: Among the many fashion wonders on display at “The Antwerp Six” — the exhibition at Antwerp’s fashion museum MoMu devoted to the clutch of designers from the small Belgian city who rocketed to international stardom — show invitations get a dedicated room.
Ann Demeulemeester’s are moody and flecked with shadows and feather motifs, or very graphic with minimal information on location and other practical details, as well as unexpected since one time, for the fall 1990 collection, when she sent white gloves printed with palmistry-inspired lines and the collection’s defining themes, such as “romantic influence,” “destiny” and “love,” among others.
Now they are all catalogued in “Ann Demeulemeester: Print,” a coffee table book published by Hannibal and masterminded by the designer’s son Victor Robyn.
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“Queen Ann,” as WWD anointed her in a headline following a blockbuster collection in 1995, bowed out of fashion in 2014 and has mostly avoided the spotlight since. But on Friday night she was back to meet and greet her fans at her namesake brand’s flagship in Milan.
The brand is now owned by Antonioli Group, which supported the book launch, and is designed by the Italian Stefano Gallici.
“It was an idea of my son, he said, ‘Mum, there are so many beautiful graphics, you have to do a book on it,’” Demeulemeester said as people, dressed in her designs, queued to have their tome signed.
“They are all very personal,” she said about the invitations featured in the book, unable to pick a favorite. The book pages are also interspersed with images of tank tops and T-shirts bearing dark romantic designs.
The book comes in two iterations, including a limited edition that includes an original spring 1998 show invite and special folder. It is on sale through Hannibal’s e-commerce site, partner bookstores, as well as at the Ann Demeulemeester stores in Milan and Antwerp.
The designer founded her namesake brand with her life and creative partner Patrick Robyn in 1985. After bidding farewell to the industry, she only occasionally engaged with fashion, including earlier this year, contributing to the Antwerp’s MoMu exhibit, which is open until Jan. 17.
Demeulemeester’s Antwerp Six pals included Marina Yee, Dries Van Noten, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkembergs and Dirk Van Saene.
