Young Talent

Model in pink translucent floral outfit with headpiece

The MoMu collection focuses on Belgian avant-garde fashion, but has in recent years gradually expanded to include non-Belgian, non-European, and non-Western fashion. In this way, the collection is enriched with other design practices and designers with different and innovative frames of reference.

Mannequin in blue tenure with cap and belt with dolphin pendants
Botter, Autumn-Winter 2019-20
MoMu Collection inv. X451, Photo: Stany Dederen
Marine Serre marketing image with three models and a dog
Marine Serre, ‘Fashion 2.021 Antwerp – Fashion/Conscious’
Photo: Hanna Moon
Mannequin in pink dress with tutu
Molly Goddard, Autumn-Winter 2019-20
MoMu Collection inv. X459, Photo: Stany Dederen
Model in blue tenure showing pink body painting
Botter, campaign image ‘Fashion 2.021 Antwerp – Fashion/Conscious’
Photo: Hanna Moon
Brown dress piece by Ester Manas with pronounced waistline
Ester Manas, Autumn-Winter 2019-20
MoMu Collection inv. T20/860 & T20/861AB, Photo: Stany Dederen
Mannequin in black suit with white pattern and blue and white sneakers
Pyer Moss for Reebok, Collection 3.5, 2020
MoMu Collection inv. T21/642, T21/643 & T21/644, Photo: Stany Dederen
Photograph of three models in white tutus
Molly Goddard, Spring-Summer 2020
MoMu Collection inv. X458, Photo: Tom Johnson
Mannequin in a white tunica with leather belts and black shoes with fluff
Noir Key Ninomiya, Spring-Summer 2020
MoMu Collection inv. X453, Photo: Stany Dederen
Mannequin in multicolored costume
Kenneth Ize, Autumn-Winter 2019-20
MoMu Collection MoMu inv. X455, Photo: Stany Dederen inv. X455, Foto: Stany Dederen

Since the international breakthrough of the first generation of Belgian designers in the late 1980s, Belgian fashion and its international context have both seen radical change. Since then, the globalization of the fashion world has made the concept of ‘Belgian fashion’ far more complex. The origins of the designers, the places where they trained, the cultural, socio-economic and political contexts from which designers shape their oeuvres all lead to an identity that is constantly changing. ‘Belgian fashion’ has evolved into a quality label that has less to do with origins and more with the artistic vision and sensibilities of the designers. What unites them is a certain wilfulness, a conceptual approach, a love of surrealism and an unmistakable eye for detail.

MARINE SERRE

Mannequin with mouth mask in brown checkered vest and brown-and-pink boots, which has a pink backpack attached to it
Marine Serre, Autumn-Winter 2020-21
MoMu Collection inv. X450, Photo: Stany Dederen

MOUTH AND MASKS

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Marine Serre integrated mouth masks into her collections, as a response to air pollution and the selfie phenomenon.

Model with white embroidered garment in a domestic setting
Marine Serre, Spring-Summer 2022
Photo: Catwalk Pictures

Following her studies at La Cambre and apprenticeships with Maison Margiela, Raf Simons and Balenciaga, Marine Serre launched her own label in Paris. Circularity and functionality are important core values in her work. She often begins with textiles that have already had previous lives, including silk, Scottish wool and jeans, as well as carpets and household textiles.

There is something poetic and magical about giving the past a new life. That transformation process is a crucial inspiration.

Marine Serre for the MoMu exhibition, 'E/Motion: Fashion in Transition', 2021

ESTER MANAS

Plussize model in green glittery turtleneck and brown vest, with pronounced waistline
Ester Manas, Autumn-Winter 2019-20
Photo: Jacq Harriet; Styling: Lee Trigg; Model: Jay Jay Bol

In 2017, Ester Manas graduated from La Cambre with a one-size-fits-all collection. Working together with Balthazar Delepierre, she carries this concept through in the fashion label that bears her name. By offering clothing in a single size that fits everyone, she works towards a sustainable future: her pieces can continue to be worn as the body changes.

BOTTER

Mannequin with blue and white cape and dark blue track pants
Botter, Spring-Summer 2021
MoMu Collection inv. X457, Photo: Stany Dederen
Mannequin in light pink costume with multifunctional menswear
Botter, Autumn-Winter 2020-21
MoMu Collection inv. X462, Photo: Stany Dederen

Romancing the Coral Reef

In 2020, in collaboration with a diving school in Curaçao, BOTTER set up a coral nursery to help regrow corals that are dying off. Twenty percent of their Autumn-Winter collection for 2021-22 was in fabrics made with ocean-borne plastic waste. They use the income from their designs to help pay for the coral nursery. The collection includes references to diving apparel and inventive dressmaking, as seen in this multifunctional waistcoat.

Botter, Autumn-Winter 2020-21
MoMu Collection inv. X462, Photo: David Paige / Catwalkpictures

Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh are the design duo behind the BOTTER label. She has Dominican roots, was born in Amsterdam and studied fashion at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute. He was born in Curaçao, grew up in the Netherlands and graduated in 2017 from the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. The Caribbean region plays an important emotional role in their design process, notably in the colours, the materials, the styling and the stories that they tell. Their education in the low countries in turn influences their love for history, conceptualization and research. Activism and a strong message are central to their collections.

Zoom in on the details of this silhouette from the Autumn-Winter 2020-21 collection
Botter, zoom in on the details of this silhouette from the Autumn-Winter 2020-21 collection by moving your cursor over the image
MoMu Collection inv. X452, Photo: Stany Dederen

BOTTER’s 2020-21 Autumn-Winter collection refers to Arte Povera, an art movement of the late 1960s that criticized power structures and the established order by, among other things, making use of unconventional materials. BOTTER poignantly translates this approach to today by, for example, adorning a jacket with plastic textile pins that would normally be used to attach price tags to articles of clothing.

Mannequin in top out of organza bubble wrap with black suit pants
Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh for Nina Ricci, Autumn-Winter 2019-20
MoMu Collection inv. X461, Photo: Stany Dederen
Mannequin in beige costume, which stitches outline a bathing costume
Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh for Nina Ricci, Autumn-Winter 2019-20
MoMu Collection inv. X460, Photo: Stany Dederen

After winning a number of prestigious fashion prizes, in the autumn of 2018, Lisi Herrebrugh and Rushemy Botter took over the creative direction for Nina Ricci. In a surprising leap to women’s fashion in their debut collection (Autumn-Winter 2019-20), they placed the emphasis on dressmaking and experimentation. They reproduced bubble wrap in organza, while seams in jackets took on the contours of swimwear. They left the French fashion house in 2022.

Minju Kim

Catwalk model with a black-and-white headpiece, a white-and-silver top and a pink-and-green skirt
Minju Kim, défile masters collection Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, 2013
Photo: Andrew Thomas
Mannequin in a greenish jacquard coat suit
Minju Kim, Autumn-Winter 2020-21
MoMu Collection inv. X454, Photo: Stany Dederen

After studying at the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, this Korean designer founded her own label in 2015. Her style bears witness to a fairytale-like imagination and playfulness, which she combines with attention to craftsmanship. Surprising volumes and a predelection jacquard and prints are a constant in her collections.

Photo above: Rushemy Botter en Lisi Herrebrugh for Nina Ricci, Spring-Suller 2020, Photo: Nadine Ijewere

Exhibition view 'E/MOTION. Fashion in Transition', 2021