Fashion Designer, Mentor of the Master in Fashion Design
Even though his namesake label was founded over three decades ago, the Belgium-based, original Antwerp Six member Walter Van Beirendonck remains one of the most relevant and independently successful designers of this era. Ever since he graduated from the world-renowned Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp Fashion Department, he hasn’t failed to use his wildly playful but forever critical imagination to stir runways, stores and stages for seasons on end. Between 1993 and 2004, Walter Van Beirendonck founded W.&L.T. (Wild & Lethal Trash) and Aestheticterrorists, the forever legendary brands whose archive pieces are by now coveted collector’s items.
Walter Van Beirendonck’s fearless color combinations and ingenious use of slogans, drawings, prints and his off-kilter sense of humor are intended to make statements about society’s ills and thrills. His designs for his eponymous line can range from playful & wide-eyed to hypersexual & accusatory and everything his wondrous mind will think of in between, building on and mixing bold innovation with ancient traditions. A spirit guide for the daring gang and perpetually inspired and or antagonized by (human) nature, Walter Van Beirendonck isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Next to launching two collections each year, Walter’s career highlights include but are not limited to designing for U2’s POPmart-tour, conceptualizing N°A Magazine and the LANDED/GELAND events, his MoMu-retrospective ‘Dream The World Awake’, curating the acclaimed POWERMASK exhibition and designing costumes for the Berlin Opera. He was a teacher at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp Fashion Department from 1985 to 2022 and served as its Headmaster from 2007 to 2022.
