styleanecdotalist: The story so far... Ann Demeulemeester

First things First... and Introduction to the renowned designer... a legend in my eyes...

“I want to cut nonchalance into my clothes. To do that, you have to work with balance. For example, a jacket pocket will hang differently after you've put things in it. Clothes will eventually take the shape of your body — a favorite coat will have a completely different soul than an identical jacket before it has been worn. The idea that garments are alive is a big inspiration. I want to fill them with soul. I've worked on that for a long time through the cut, the fabrics, and the treatments. I want to create the shape of your arm in the sleeve of the jacket.”

Her Story

Ann Demeulemeester is a member of a group of experimental designers who emerged from Belgium in the mid-1980s, known today as the 'antwerp six'. Termed deconstructivists, they achieved recognition by creating raw, elemental, non-traditional clothes. Demeulemeester designs with a close attention to detail and prefers to concentrate on pairing unusual fabrics, rather than focusing on colour and ornament. Demeulemeester combines unconventional cutting and tailoring with distressed fabrics, and always mixes the austere with the avant-garde. Ann loves layering, and primarily works with black and white colors. Her signature, neo-gothic rock-n-roll look is unmistakable, and gives an edge to her collections. I think Ann is also a master of the moving silhouette. The way she cuts, along with her omnipresent use of tassels, buckles, and strings creates a sweeping, exciting movement. Yet, Ann manages to keep a sense of a soft romance in her clothes, and it is that mix of soft edge, the masculine femininity, the dark romance that makes her a true artist – a designer with a clear philosophy and a strong identity. She never bows to trends, although trends sometimes intersect with her collections. She does not advertise.

She lets the clothes speak for themselves.