Ann Demeulemeester

get alerts about this designer get alerts about this designer

Perfectly cut, monochromatic pieces with a blunt edginess and a punky femininity are Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester's hallmarks. Women with a strong sense of personal style, who don't pay much heed to passing trends, have been coming back for years to her brand of slouchy, layered, menswear-inspired modernity: T-shirt dresses, asymmetric vests, and leather outerwear (not to mention those stompin' black leather boots). Still, Demeulemeester does appreciate the play of opposites, which accounts for a certain romance that flows through her collections, chains and all.

While other designers court the press, Ann Demeulemeester prefers to avoid reporters, holing up in Belgium's only Le Corbusier house. Born in 1959, she graduated from Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1981. Six years later, she and five other young Belgians with fashion aspirations (Martin Margiela and Dries Van Noten among them) piled into a van and headed for London. The Antwerp Six, as they came to be known, weren't exactly a collective, but the catchall moniker was convenient for an English-speaking audience. Demeulemeester forged her own path. That first collection was bought by Charivari of New York City, and five years later she started showing on the big stage in Paris. A full menswear line was added in 2005, jewelry in 2006.

Of course, a designer as successful as Demeulemeester can't be a total recluse. She has a close friend in Patti Smith (who has been quoted as saying she only wears vintage or Ann Demeulemeester), using Smith's punk anthems as a runway soundtrack and as scrawled embellishment on her clothes. And in 2004, she collaborated with the photographer Steven Klein, borrowing a picture of a horse in motion to reproduce as a laser print on fabric.

ALL ON STYLE.COM

FASHION SHOWS (21)

Spring 2010 Ready-to-Wear

reviews and complete collections

October 3, 2009 12:00AM

  1. All Seasons

  2. Ready-to-wear


Style.com

Style File Blog

november 20, 2009

Social intelligence

Selma Blair, Woman of Simple Tastes?

05:11 PM
It was a reunion of sorts: Ginnifer Goodwin, Selma Blair, a host of fabulous Bulgari jewels,...

Dept. of culture

The Pratt Gallery’s Shades of Green

04:11 PM

Q&A

Delfina Delettrez Fendi Isn’t Afraid Of The Dark

04:11 PM

more from the style file blog ›