Ticket to the Tropics

Another exciting event that took place in the first weekend of the Downtown program of AIFW is the ‘Cultuur Couture’ exhibition at the Tropenmuseum, showing designs of 4 students of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. This highly original location turned out to be the perfect romantic, multicultural setting to show these collections that were the result of the Ethnic Costume Project at the Antwerp Academy. The group of students who can maybe already be called the ‘Antwerp 4’ of our days, consists of Izumu Hongo, Setareh Mohtarez, Matthieu Thouvenot and Pierre-Antoine Vettorello.

Hongo’s collection ‘Donkey Couture’ is a mature girly look inspired by ethnic costumes, in particular by a coat from Turkmenistan. The work of contemporary Japanese designers from Hongo’s home country turned out to be another source of inspiration, as well as donkeys who represent the feeling of ethnicity in the costumes. ‘Donkey Couture’ shows all these elements but watching the shapes in the collection one can also recognise the designer’s education as an architect. Hongo created a colourful multicultural fairytale that dazzled the audience.

The second collection showed was ‘L’ombilic des limbes’ by Matthieu Thouvenot, inspired by a black bridal costume from Bretagne. This Frenchman honoured his roots with a Chanel-like elegant feminine collection: a lot of black and pink with checkered prints, classic tweeds, feminine tops and romantic braids. The exquisite details and beautiful elegance make this a truly timeless collection.

‘Brightness Dawn’ by Setareh Mohtarez from Iran is a collection inspired by a Palestinian wedding gown. She sees these dresses as an actual jewel, an item that makes a woman feel truly special. She created a gown with golden embroidery, one that would lit up as if it was a starry sky when you would turn of the light....

The final collection presented at the Tropenmuseum was ‘Bonnie Magnum vs. Samantha Beretta’ by Frenchman Pierre Antoine Vettorello. His inspiration was an African Egun mask: a spooky hatpiece resembling a ghost. The collection breaths the fear for the ghosts and uses typical African prints on the fabrics. The designer was also inspired by strong sexy female heroes from comic books: this shows in the guns sowed into the garments. The name of the collection comes from 2 women names and 2 guntypes: both the name and the collection are highly original and combine two complete different elements.

The entire show was a joy to watch, from the beginning till the end… We want more!







Pictures from top to bottom:

Tropenmuseum
'Donkey Couture' by Izumu Hongo
'L’ombilic des limbes' by Matthieu Thouvenot
‘Brightness Dawn’ by Setareh Mohtarez (left)
Bonnie Magnum vs. Samantha Beretta’ by Pierre Antoine Vettorello (right)







All pictures by Maria Rudnaya
Written by Lisa Goudsmit