Belgian-born designer Ann Demeulemeester studied fashion design at the now-famous Fashion Academy in Antwerp from 1978 to 1981, and was a member of the so-called “Antwerp Six”, with contemporaries including Dries Van Noten and Martin Margiela. Demeulemeester is married to photographer Patrick Robyn. She still lives in Antwerp, in Belgium’s only Le Corbusier house, and has a flagship store there, she also lives in Belgium’s only Le Corbusier house. She is influenced by artists including Jim Dine, Patti Smith and Jackson Pollock.

Why did you choose to be a fashion designer, when you could have done almost anything?
AD: I became a fashion designer by accident. I loved to make portrait drawings when I was a teenager and from that came the interest in what people were wearing and why they were wearing it. Also as a fashion designer you can communicate with a lot of people. So although I was not a fashionista I decided just to try it my way and went to the Antwerp Academy in 1977.

How do you communiciate with people through fashion?
AD: It’s like a musician who communicates through his music or an artist who communicates through his artworks or a writer through his books. I make clothes, and you create and give something. It’s most beautiful thing about my work. I have reached people who I would never have known without my work.

There are so many Belgian designers nowadays. How do you characterize Belgian fashion style?AW: I can’t, I’m an individualist and to me all designers are different (and they should be).

Ever since your first collection, you’ve used almost all black and white. Before Ann Demeulemeester, black was the colour of Comme des Garcons or Yohji Yamamoto. Why don’t you use other colours?
AW: Black to me is the colour of the poets but I need white too, like a black and white photo. When I create, I create new shapes and cuts. Later I make them in black or white, and that way I’m not distracted by colour. Once the piece is ready, I don’t add needless decoration. I prefer to keep it pure. Still, there is a whole range of black and white. Also, black can evoke very different emotions depending on the material.

What kind of feelings and emotions does “black” bring to you?
AW: Mostly poetic, but I can use it also as a strong, eternal, beautiful and classic colour. Or even to add strength. It can range from romantic to aggressive, a whole gamut of emotions.

For you, should clothes be wearable, or should clothes express something?
AW: Both. One can not exist without the other.

I think your collection influences both other designers’ collections and street fashion. Is there a difference between those two for you?
AW: We all walk in the street! When I can influence, it means that my work lives. I see it as a compliment.

When did you start designing a menswear collection?
AW: 1996.

What was the inspiration for your A/W 08 menswear collection?
AW: The song “Knockin’ on Heavens Door” by Bob Dylan was in my mind and influenced the spirit of the collection. I was struck by its power and its simplicity. As an anti-war song it had something we need now. People are afraid of the situation in the world today, and that shows in various ways, even the way they dress. Fear kills all beauty, all creativity and all positive vibes that we need to live and to work. Therefore positive vibes are what I wanted to offer, with the power of the flowers taken from my own garden.

Do you think that fashion can change the world?
AW: It’s the duty of all artists to fight with the weapons they have. Every voice counts and I feel it as a responsibility.

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