065: Two Nights in Antwerp
A wonderful city to get lost in
There’s something in the air in Antwerp. Graduates from the city’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts (and my close personal friends) include Martin Margiela, Veronique Branquinho, Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Raf Simons, Haider Ackermann, and the late Marina Yee. Though fashion is not the city’s only allure, with the abundant museums, excellent food, and beautiful architecture to take in, it has to be noted that some of the most significant designers in modern history have roots in Antwerp. And it’s not just vaulted names that are well-regarded in Antwerp: local shops and museums alike platform the works of recent Royal Academy students, migrant and refugee designers, and emerging labels. While the fashion machine has become increasingly cynical, the scene in Antwerp inspires hope.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I spent three nights in Antwerp, and though our trip was brief, I’ve thought of the city and all that we did nearly every day since our return. It’s impossible to not feel inspired by a place that values creativity. Before I launch into my ode “O Antwerp, how I love thee”, here are some of my highlights from our holiday, which, it turns out, is everything.
We took the Eurostar from London to Brussels, and then transferred to a train to Antwerp. The first leg of the trip takes less than two hours, which is about the time it takes to finally settle on whether to listen to a podcast or a playlist. Crucial for this part of the journey is a Prawn and Mayonnaise sandwich from Marks & Spencer. It doesn’t matter how early your train is, get the sandwich. You’ll feel smug satisfaction while taking a bite of creamy pre-packaged goodness while everyone else pokes at their dehydrated train meals. A mad dash through Brussels Midi/Zuid will get you to the trains that run to Antwerp. Another 30-45 minutes and you’ve arrived!
To-Do
MoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp
I’ve wanted to visit MoMu for years, and it may have been one of the main reasons I suggested to my husband that we take a trip to Antwerp. Over time, as I became more and more obsessed with interested in learning as much as I could about Dries Van Noten, all roads led to MoMu. The museum is home to more than 38,000 items, and showcases works of designers not commonly shown in America. On display in the permanent collection at the time were pieces by both emerging and long-established designers, from Meryll Rogge to Martin Margiela.
At MoMu, I learned about the fashion designer Ann Salens, considered the godmother of Belgian fashion, known for her silk crochet designs. On display were a few of Salens’ knit and fringe pieces, which have inspired Dries Van Noten’s own takes on the techniques.
Elsewhere in the permanent collection were works that explored floral motifs, particularly roses. A blurb on this section reads, “Over the centuries, the rose has become deeply entwined with mythology and religion, as well as with themes of beauty, sexuality and gender identity. What stands out is how strongly designers today are drawn to the rose as a symbol.” There were designs from the queen of roses, Simone Rocha, as well as Prada, Noir Kei Ninomiya, Bernadette, Dries, and Dirk Van Saene. Serendipitously, I was wearing a pink rose-patterned dress from Dries Van Noten’s fall 2017, a revisiting of the designer’s work from his debut womenswear collection in 1994
Also on at the museum (and still on view) was an exhibition titled, GIRLS. On Boredom, Rebellion and Being In-Between, which thoroughly investigates the trajectory and complexities of girlhood. The show opens with a pink ballet-slippered bursting sculpture by Sofia Lai, followed by a singular wax and human hair Mary Jane shoe by Robert Gober. This was undeniably the most thrilling exhibition I’d been to in a while, and I thought it was radical to dedicate something of this scale to the experience of girlhood.
There were bedrooms as imagined by designers Jenny Fax and Chopova Lowena, Lux Lisbon’s prom dress and nightgown, a plush toy dog handbag from 1936, white socks and their gendered politics, and books by authors who have touched my own girlhood and womanhood, such as Toni Morisson, Francoise Sagan, Bernadine Evaristo, and for those of us old enough to remember the glory days of Tumblr, Theory of the Young-Girl by Tiqqun. A compilation of films regarding the theme of girlhood included Bande des filles, Picnic at Hanging Rock, and Bonjour Tristesse by girlcrush, Durga Chew-Bose.
Closing out our visit to MoMu was the RESOLUCIÓN exhibition, an audiovisual installation composed of over 90 years worth of clips spanning Spanish cinema and its incredible actresses as they talk on the phone, avenge themselves, remain composed, implode, and say no, side by side and decades apart. Whether it was intentional or not, both exhibitions and the permanent collection seemed to tell a story: first the seeds of girlhood, then its flourishing, and finally emerging from girlhood and into womanhood.
Plantin-Moretus Museum
Once a publishing house and residence of the Plantin and Moretus families, helmed by the women of the families between the 16th and 18th centuries, the museum houses antique printing presses and the first modern atlas. While it’s a veritable playground for publishing and typography nerds, there’s a great deal of inspiration to be found everywhere and for everyone, from its beautiful courtyard to ornate wall panels – a little birdie told me the museum inspired elements of Dries Van Noten’s Men’s Spring 2022 season.
While I was walking through the museum, I came across costume displays by REantwerp, a project that redirects excess and scrap textiles from fashion houses, which are then reimagined and given new context by refugee and recently-arrived migrant artisans and designers. Some of the labels REantwerp collaborates with include Christian Wijnants, Raf Simons, Haider Ackermann, and of course, Dries Van Noten. Seven costumes were specially created to honor the lives and work of the women – daughters and domestic workers alike – who powered the publishing house for 300 years.
To Feast
Camino
Following our Prawn and Mayonnaise train sandwiches and exploring the city for a few hours, my husband and I had built up quite the appetite, which is the perfect time to go to Camino, a cozy Asian-inspired restaurant. We got the BBQ corn with yuzu koshu, fried chicken wings in nam jim gai, mussels in red coconut curry, and Dandan, and for dessert, the coconut cream and mango-passion fruit sorbet. Our only regret was not packing our extra stomachs with us.
Bar Misera
For our last night in Antwerp, we had dinner at Bar Misera. When I learned that they offered eggs with caviar and smoked eel, I knew I was in heaven. We also had the potato croquettes, the most elegant salad, and fish to share. After returning to New York, my husband and I have discussed our meal at Bar Misera at length and agreed that it was one of the best meals we had on our holiday, right up there with the St. John.
To Shop
I’ve already droned on in-depth about how incredible the shopping is in Antwerp, regardless of whether you’re looking to make some serious financial damage or simply to feel inspired (or for some of us, simply to feel) but to recap:
Concept shops: Graanmarkt 13 (there are 13 lush trees in the main square just outside the shop); The Menu; Renaissance; Step by Step
Secondhand shops: Rosier 41; Labels Inc.; Vrijdagmarkt 6 (menswear paradise); Ensō Vintage (their upcycled range, made from vintage Italian pieces, is ingenious!)
Motherships: Dries Van Noten; Christian Wijnants
New and vintage houseware: Every shop along Kloosterstraat will have you rationalizing packing a chair into your carry-on.
Chocolatier: Perhaps the height of tourist behavior, but I couldn’t go to Belgium and not bring back chocolates for my family (and perhaps myself). I settled on a few mixed packages of white, milk, and dark chocolates with puffed rice and nuts from Elisabeth, and have been discreetly working through my loot whenever my husband is on a call.
Trees outside Graanmarkt 13; August Barron display at Renaissance While some might say two nights is a good amount of time spent in Antwerp, I wish we could’ve stayed so much longer. It’s a wonderful city to get lost in, and every space I entered and every space I passed made me want to explore its ins and outs for hours. On the train back to Brussels, I shed a tear of five, surprised by how deeply our stay and the beauty of all I had the privilege of experiencing moved me.
Until next time!
