On Saturday night, Dries Van Noten took his final bow. Only three months after announcing his retirement, the beloved Belgian designer presented his swan song in Paris, with his collection bookending more than 30 years as one of the fashion industry’s most beloved and disruptive figures.
A member of the famed Antwerp Six, Van Noten gained notoriety not for the outlandishness of his designs, but rather their clean opulence. Able to capture attention through poetic design, Van Noten has never needed to lean on gimmick to get by (although that hasn’t stopped him—he once held a runway on a table top) and has been driven instead by a perpetual pursuit of beauty. Meticulously crafted, carefully considered and constantly toying with the lines of masculine and feminine, across three decades of design, Van Noten has reshaped the way that women dress.
Ahead, we take a trip down memory lane and chart the evolution of his practice; revisiting the pieces through which he pushed the envelope on what women’s fashion can be.
1992
A model walks during Van Noten’s first-ever runway show, spring/summer 1993.
1993
A colourless look at the Menswear Fall/Winter 1992/1993 show.
1995
Practicality and poetry in Van Noten’s summer 1996 collection.
1996
Diane Kruger walks in the Spring/Summer 1997 show.
1999
New shapes for the Spring 2000 collection.
2001
Pastels and shape took centre stage at Van Noten’s spring/summer 2002 show in Paris.
2005
Famously, models walked down to table top runway at Van Noten’s spring 2005 show.
2006
The designer leant into relaxed silhouettes for his spring/summer 2007 offering.
2009
The spring/summer 2010 collection brought a change in tone, with Van Noten dialling up the colour a touch.
2012
Van Noten ushered in the grunge renaissance with his spring/summer 2013 collection, which was inspired by the 90s subculture.
2015
For fall/winter 2015/2016, Van Noten nodded to the decadence of the Marchesa Casati with fur detailing and opulent patterns.
2018
Not only did he do florals for fall, but Van Noten reinterpreted his rose garden for fall/winter 2018/2019.
2020
Masculine shapes met flashes of glamour for fall/winter 2021.
2024
A model walks Van Noten’s final show, Menswear spring/summer 2025, held at the Babcock factory in La Courneuve.
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