By Natalie White

The works of Dries Van Noten, featured previously at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris last year, was the very first exhibition devoted to the Belgian designer. It now moves to the MoMu Museum Of Fashion in Antwerp, where it will be staged from 13 February to 19 July.

Van Noten will take visitors on an intimate journey into his artistic universe, where he reveals the singularity of his creative process which he illustrates with his various and numerous sources of inspiration.

The exhibition brings together various artistic fields through an assemblage of historical, pictorial, ethnic, cinematic and geographic references which point to other sources of inspiration, such as the Renaissance 'chambers of wonder' or 'curiosity cabinets' in which collectors amassed memorabilia and souvenirs.

He has selected anonymous 19th century pieces and works by emblematic couturiers such as Elsa Schiaparelli and Christian Dior and 1980s designers, to evoke intimate subject matters such as youth, the archetype, ambiguity and passion, while highlighting his 'signature' themes.

While stressing the influences, the analogies and the contradictions in Dries Van Noten's work, the exhibition combines fashion design with the world of decorative and fine arts in order to illustrate the Belgian creator’s distinctive techniques and stylistic vocabulary.

The show also includes photographs and videos, film clips, musical references, as well as artworks by renowned artists, from public and private collections, that have triggered the designer’s imagination throughout his life and career.

Thanks to exceptional loans, masterpieces by important artists such as Bronzino, Kees Van Dongen, Yves Klein, Victor Vasarely, Francis Bacon, Elizabeth Peyton and Damien Hirst (see below) are on display in each section of the show. Major films, including Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange and Jane Campion’s The Piano, are also part of the event.

For more information, go to //www.momu.be/en/tentoonstelling/dries-van-noten.html