Menswear rules at Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Art Show

The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp is responsible for shaping some of the most creative minds in fashion such as Martin Margiela, Walter Van Beirendonck and Bruno Pieters. Pictures by Catwalkpictures

Those alumni make for the academy’s annual show to be one of the most highly coveted of all graduation shows, attracting a crowd of 2000 people two nights in a row. Show 2016, as it’s called, took place at Park Spoor Noord.

In a way student collections aren’t much different from the offerings of big labels, in that they both deal with current affairs. Speaking of current affairs, protest is undoubtedly having a big moment. This topic was translated in a striking and masculine manner by 3rd year bachelor student Rushemy Botter (pic below). Botter won the IFF award, which next to a cash prize of 3000 euro also granted him a trip to New York to present his fragrance project to the head of the International Flavours and Fragrances.

19 other prizes were awarded to students from the academy, each one supported by a different institution. What everyone is always most excited about though are the master collections. Each one showed imagination and depth in their own way. Prior to their runway shows, Charlotte de Guyter Pittoors, Emmanuel A. Ryngaert, Jannike Sommar (pic below), Jennifer Dols, Timo Zundorf and Shone Puipia also presented their master collections in individual installations that were spread out over a walking route through the city.

The two menswear collections, from Ryngaert and Zundorf, stood out most. Emmanuel A. Ryngaert (pic below), who won the Weekend Knack award, showed great technique and an ability to simplify garments to modular elements in his ‘Meccano’ collection. Despite the puzzled nature of his collection, the silhouettes he created have a sense of elegance to them.

Timo Zundorf (pic below) dug into his inspiration sources and found that there is a very conscious effort in dressing up. A conscious approach to clothing. On one hand it is a very intimate reflection of who you are within, yet it also carries you out into the world. This tension, the border in between, is what Zundorf tries to illustrate with his collection ‘Brink’, which was rich in the different techniques he used from jacquards to knitwear pieces. Timo took home a cash price of 3000 euro as a result of winning the BVBA32 Award, which goes to the student with the most promising collection that shows commercial viability.