The Belgian Fashion Awards have reached their third edition. The awards were created to place the reputation, creativity and diversity of Belgian fashion in the spotlight, both nationally and internationally. We also want to focus on the people who work behind the scenes and provide a podium for lesser known names and new talent. Every year, these awards are an occasion to celebrate Belgian fashion, meet up and strengthen ties within the entire creative sector. We show that Belgian fashion is not only surrealistic, modest, hardworking, avant-garde and no nonsense, but also stands for independence, personality and durability.  With the Belgian Fashion Awards we lend a voice to the usually so modest fashion sector.

The Belgian Fashion Awards are organised by Knack and Le Vif Weekend, Flanders DC (Flanders District of Creativity), MAD - Home of Creators and WBDM (Wallonie-Bruxelles Design Mode).

For this third edition, we wanted to find a renowned external jury with a worldwide knowledge of the sector. With resounding names such as President of the jury Patrick Scallon, Communications Director at Dries Van Noten, designers such as Glenn Martens and Diane von Furstenberg, as well as Elizabeth von der Goltz of Net-à-Porter and Christopher Morency of Highsnobiety – just to name a few from the impressive list. You can find the complete list here.

The third edition of the Belgian Fashion Awards will take place in the recently renovated Handelsbeurs in Antwerp on 21 November 2019, in the context of Fashion Talks. Once again, awards will be given in seven categories. These are the nominees for the various awards:
 

Designer of the year: Carine Gilson, Caroline Bosmans, Christian Wijnants, Olivier Theyskens, Wouters & Hendrix 
 

Professional of the year: Benoît Béthume, Peter Philips, Pierre Debusschere, Tom Van Dorpe, Uber & Kosher 
 

Entrepreneur of the year: Bellerose, Essentiel, Florence Cools en Artur Tadevosian, Sofie D’Hoore en Chantal Spaas, Valérie Berckmans
  

Emerging talent of the year: Bernadette, Indee, Namacheko, Templa, Sara Levy 
 

Fashion brand of the year: is an audience award Belgian brands can apply for. FROM TODAY the public can go to  www.belgianfashionawards.be and choose their favourite from a final selection of 10 Belgian brands, carefully selected by the jury. The brand with the most votes wins the audience award. The 10 selected brands are: Arte, Bonjour Maurice, Façon Jacmin, Filles a Papa, Howlin, La Fille d’O, Léo, Natan, Mieke Dierckx, Snobe 
 

Most promising graduate:

Quinten Mestdagh - Academy Antwerp

Bart Lapere - KASK Gent

Samuel Quertinmont - LA Cambre

Maria Ossaba - SASK St Niklaas

Thurel Thonet - Helmo

Eve Delperdange - Francisco Ferrer

Dominique Rocour - Chateau Massart
 

 The Jury Prize: No nominees are selected for the jury prize. After communal deliberation the jury chooses who will be awarded the prize this year.

 If you want to know more about the various categories, all details can be found on the improved  Belgian Fashion Awards website.
 
Footnotes to the Awards:

“Belgium has an incredible amount of talent, both in front of and behind the scenes. It is a long-held tradition for Knack Weekend to put them in the spotlight. We have been saying for years that we are extremely proud of our Belgian fashion, but we want to emphasise it with these awards, supported by various partners from the sector. The fact that an international jury will be awarding the prizes this time, makes it even more prestigious." Ruth Goossens, editor Knack Weekend.

“For more than 35 years, Le Vif Weekend has been supporting young Belgian fashion designers, both in the magazine and through various events. Since the launch of the magazine, one of our main missions has been to support our Belgian avant-garde fashion and its new talents. As with our Designer of the Year award, we want to use these Belgian fashion awards to put talent in the spotlight and give it more visibility.” Delphine Kindermans, Le Vif Weekend.

“Once again, this third edition of the Belgian Fashion Awards in Antwerp provides an exceptional insight into Belgian entrepreneurship at the highest level! These days, being an entrepreneur in the fashion sector is a bigger challenge than ever, both for newcomers and for the numerous professionals in the sector. As a supporting organisation MAD, together with their partners, wants to give international recognition to the driving forces behind this exceptional creativity. In our daily work, but also via this award ceremony we want to make the larger public aware of the importance of a durable, local Belgian fashion product.” Elke Timmerman, MAD - Home of Creators.
 
Ann Claes, Senior Project Manager at Flanders DC declares: “Every year, we are proud of our professional approach to the Belgian Fashion Awards, which is this year, once again, held in the context of our well-known Fashion Talks conference. Both the context and the jury prove that these awards are constantly gaining in importance and maturity, and that creativity and entrepreneurship are high on the agenda within and outside our network, today and in the future.”

“By taking part in the organisation of the Belgian Fashion Awards, Wallonie-Bruxelles Design Mode wants to strengthen the reputation and international visibility, both of the sector as a whole and of the talented individuals with their unique character, whether they work independently or within a fashion house.” Laure Capitani, WBDM.