The first names of the participating fashion brands and designers at the Antwerp.Fashion Festival have been announced
Antwerp, Belgium, 2 April 2026
From 4 to 7 June 2026, Antwerp becomes the stage for fashion during the first edition of the Antwerp.Fashion Festival. A city-wide programme of 4 days with shows, installations, exhibitions, talks and events by both established fashion brands and a new generation of designers.
The festival is organised by Flanders District of Creativity and city of Antwerp, in collaboration with MoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp, and with the support of EventFlanders.
The city of Antwerp supports 28 participating designers and fashion brands
In late 2025, the city of Antwerp launched a call for Antwerp fashion designers and entrepreneurs to present their fashion brand in a creative way during the fashion festival. Designers could apply to organise a fashion show or dynamic presentation, or a fashion event or installation in a shop, hospitality establishment or studio. From 55 proposals submitted, a jury selected 28 fashion projects.
With support from the city, these 28 selected candidates can realise their idea during the festival. The designers and brands will receive up to 20,000 euros for a fashion show or presentation, and up to 5,000 euros for an event or installation in a shop, hospitality establishment or studio.
"The success of this story rests on three pillars: the renowned Fashion Academy, the leading Fashion Museum and, above all, the innovative power of our designers and entrepreneurs. Fashion is not just a sector here: it is at once aesthetics, economy and identity. Thanks to this dynamism, Antwerp is known worldwide as a breeding ground for talent and innovation. And we give that talent a financial boost for the Antwerp.Fashion Festival and we also ensure that that talent is visible in Antwerp's shopping streets." -Koen Kennis, alderman for middle class and tourism of the city of Antwerp
8 fashion shows and presentations
These eight Antwerp fashion designers and entrepreneurs will show their collection with a fashion show or dynamic presentation on location:
Brandon Wen presents an immersive installation focusing on clothing and the body at Botanic Sanctuary Hotel. With performances curated with Min Hee Bervoets.
After more than 20 years active in fashion, Christian Wijnants will present"From Earth to Sky" for the first time in Antwerp with his autumn/winter 2026 collection. He will share this long-awaited moment with the community that has been part of his journey from the beginning. In addition, Christian will set up an installation in his flagship store.
Essentiel Antwerp continues to encourage young talent through their exclusive collaboration with the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, this time with a capsule collection designed by student Agar Enkhbaatar, inspired by nostalgia and the way smartphones distort cultural memory.
FAÇON JACMIN brings a presentation exploring play, transformation and illusion with "Afterimage", building on their core principles and in collaboration with Antwerp-based artist Nel Maertens.
GMR - Garments by Max Reynders - their first collection "Iron Nomads" combines historical aesthetics with modern functionality, reviving the resilience and rugged aesthetics of bygone eras, and reinterpreting them using high-quality craftsmanship .
Marcel Sommer presents a showroom and fashion show with "mane solis".
Marie Bernadette Woehrl presents her new artisan leather collection during a live event with musicians, dancers and other members of the artist collective Ercola taking place in their historic gardens.
"Memories of a Forgotten Home" by Nadav Perlman is an installation and performance in which the designer looks back on his memories of his childhood home and its surroundings. A one-off evening performance that culminates in an ongoing installation in a temporary boutique space. Discover the new collection in Nadav's artistic universe, an environment that invites contemplation and inner reflection.
20 installations and windows
These 20 Antwerp fashion designers and entrepreneurs organise unique installations or events in collaboration with an Antwerp shop, hospitality establishment or studio:
Acrai presents "Living Dyes, from plant to Garment", an interactive natural dye installation at Store Acrai. The project combines a capsule collection in natural materials with a live indigo experience that reveals the process behind the colours.
With "Lost in Heaven", Maison Anna Heylen invites passers-by and visitors to see and see fashion. The installation was created in collaboration with visually impaired people and photographer Piet-Albert Goethals.
Anne Zellien looks back on her childhood in which her mum's timeless style and elegance were central. For this new collection "MON RÊVE D'ENFANT", Anne delved into her photo archive and created jewellery inspired by her mum's outfits. Bob Verhelst provided the scenography.
Artyfact's jewellery and objects appear as artefacts in a collection presentation with analogue and moving images.
BERNADETTE presents her first short fashion film *The Hostess* which focuses on the AW26 collection. Set in a beautiful house where women live who take it all in, the story explores the subtle dynamics between women through intimate rituals of femininity.
Café Costume collaborates with Stig De Block to present a series of colourful photographs combining bold colour experiments with sophisticated tailoring.
Cédric Jacquemyn is known for his work that moves between clothing construction, material research and sculptural design, where clothing becomes a poetic language. He presents a series of sculptures that build on 15 years of work and addresses a central question within fashion: what is a garment without a wearer, and does it need one at all?
Florentina Leitner presents her collection installation "You are a star" at MoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp.
Gezeever X Kisses with Saliva foils Antwerp is an interactive fashion experience that invites participants to discover circular fashion by upcycling their own garments using proven foil techniques.
Jan-Jan Van Essche presents "SOIL - Carried by Currents" the latest collaboration with Ramy Moharam Fouad, a short film around crafts and intuition, filmed in Japan.
Julie Kegels and COUR Gallery organise a joint exhibition, where Julie Kegels invites designers and close collaborators, while COUR Gallery brings together a selection of existing works in a joint "living room" that reflect the relationships and exchanges behind its universe.
KAAI, together with textile designer Juraj Straka, designs a colourful shop window and street installation and extends this colourful graphic play into painting workshops.
"Evidence" by Kié Einzelgänger unfolds as a continuation and as a critical evolution of their ongoing dialogue between fashion and visual art. In this setting, Kié Einzelgänger unveils the AW26-27 and SS27 collections alongside a newly developed series of visual artworks conceived in close collaboration with Tommy Simoens. Together, they construct a layered narrative that challenges the boundaries between garment, object and exhibition.
With"Charcoal & Shells", Lies Mertens launches a new capsule of the Shell Collection, including ENSIS III, which focuses on fire - a combination of burnt wood and charcoal leather - shells and craft. An immersive installation with documentary video, and culinary experiences, invites you to experience the making process up close.
At REantwerp, "Faces, Fabrics & Futures" will be a special encounter between fashion, craftsmanship and human stories. Visitors are guided through 10 video portraits of the makers behind REantwerp: people with a background in textiles who are helping to build a new future in Antwerp today. In the atelier itself, they show a series of shirts made in the atelier from fabrics designed by first-year bachelor fashion students of the Antwerp Academy. Thus, the event visually brings together stories, materials and creation. During the festival, the team will also be at work live, allowing visitors to experience not only the collections but also the making process up close.
Spectrumlab/Ann Bevers brings a laboratory where music, art and fashion come together with"Spectrum.lab by Ann Bevers" .
STEF SERIES transforms the shop with "The Living Wardrobe" into a unique fashion installation where numbered statement pieces are presented as art objects and where clothing, art and encounter come together, allowing visitors to experience fashion as an experience.
Talking Walls / Everyday People presents an immersive installation for the first time with "TRACES OF LIFE, WORN TO LAST" in its flagship at Nationalestraat opposite MoMu. Audio and video take visitors on a trip around the world to the original places behind the unique prints of previous collections and new work.
With "Beyond the Body", Tom Van der Borght breaks the boundaries between fashion and art from his disruptive vision of the body and normativity.
For Woche, Clarisse Bruynbroeck presents another collaboration with visual artist Nel Maertens: silver jewellery and screen-printed scarves in which Maertens' graphic language flows seamlessly into Woche's handmade jewellery.
A rich programme also including exhibitions, talks and events
The Flemish government decided in November 2025 to qualify the Antwerp.Fashion Festival, together with the exhibition "The Antwerp Six" at MoMu, as a Flemish flagship event. In doing so, Flanders is investing in fashion talent and highlighting the historical significance and contemporary vitality of Antwerp as a leading international fashion capital.
"Antwerp remains a breeding ground for exceptional fashion talent. What makes this new generation of designers so special is their ability to effortlessly combine craftsmanship, innovation and social relevance. With the Antwerp.Fashion Festival, we are not only giving them a platform, but also the international recognition they deserve.” - Leen Gysen, CEO of Toerisme Vlaanderen (Visit Flanders)
In addition to numerous designer presentations and installations in the city centre, Flanders District of Creativity will provide a curated programme of exhibitions, shows, and events in collaboration with various partners.
5 exhibitions
During the festival, there are several exhibitions on fashion to visit, with "The Antwerp Six" expo at MoMu as a must-visit in the programme. On Saturday 6 June, the fashion masters of the Antwerp Academy will exhibit their creations with EXPO. The fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts also organises its annual SHOW during the festival period, traditionally on the first Friday and Saturday of June in the Waagnatie event hall.
For KMSKA x Young Fashion Designers , Elke Hoste is curating an exhibition featuring ten alumni of the academy's fashion department, each of whom will interact with the permanent museum collection.
The collective Supersauce, consisting of artists Christophe Coppens and Javier Barcala, will stage Antwerp's Boerentoren with "The List", an immersive installation about the inspirations, dreams and obsessions that inspire five Belgian fashion visionaries in their creativity.
On Schengen Square, digital agency SHOOTTHEARTIST, in collaboration with Porsche,builds a digital fashion show "The Carroussel" with collections by six Belgian talents, including Marina Yee, REantwerp, Brandon Wen, Mattia Van Severen, Façon Jacmin and Pommie Dieryck.
Last but not least...
For fashion professionals, the annual Fashion Talks conference will take place on 4 June at the Botanic Sanctuary. Speakers will be announced soon. Especially for young people, there is the low-key streetwear event JUNCTION on 9 May, with workshops, talks and a mini-market. In collaboration with Het Bos, the festival aims to inspire young talent in terms of creativity and entrepreneurship.
Furthermore, more than 40 Antwerp shops will participate in the festival by showcasing designers and brands in their WINDOWS in an original way.
Finally, Walter Van Beirendonck will organise an Anniversary Show during the festival, entitled "40 Years of Dreaming the World Awake".
More details and the final overview of all participants, dates and exact locations will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
"The overwhelming international press coverage for the opening of the expo around The Antwerp Six shows the global recognition of Antwerp as a fashion capital. With the Antwerp.Fashion Festival we are now bringing that world to our city, and meanwhile we are showing professionals and the general public that Antwerp is a cradle of fashion talent with strong designers and brands with international impact." - Pascal Cools, managing director Flanders District of Creativity
More info
- Antwerp.Fashion Festival is organised by Flanders District of Creativity and the City of Antwerp, in collaboration with MoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp and with the support of EventFlanders. The festival also thanks its partners: Porsche, dgtgroup and De Standaard.
- Info about the participants is continuously updated on antwerpfashionfestival.be
- These contacts are available for more info:
Stefan Ceunen
Liesbeth De Maeyer
David Siwicki