A Sneak Peek of the 'Archive Dirk Bikkembergs' Pilot Project

Last year, MoMu participated in the call for pilot projects 'legacies of contemporary artists' of the Government of Flanders’ Department of Culture, Youth and Media. From 50 submissions, 12 projects were approved, including the project 'Archive Dirk Bikkembergs'. This collaboration between Dirk Bikkembergs, Luc Willame and MoMu will work out a permanent and sustainable solution for the archive of this important fashion house.

Dirk Bikkembergs is one of the Six of Antwerp, a group of fashion designers who graduated from the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in the early 1980s. In 1986, they were noticed by the international fashion press after a joint participation in the British Designer Show. To this day, the Antwerp Six continue to make their mark on the international fashion scene.

Dirk Bikkembergs' artistic archive echoes a story of creativity and innovation. More than a collection of 80 archive boxes - filled with sketchbooks, drawings and other ephemera such as invitations and press folders - it is a window to the past. The archive records the evolution of a visionary mind. Inside, we find a wealth of published press cuttings and publications, catalogues and lookbooks. They depict the spirit of each season throughout fashion history.

The moodboards from the archive give an insight into the designer and his fashion house's sources of inspiration and creative process. Digging deeper, we also discover a wealth of audiovisual material; negatives, photographs, slides. Each frame is a snapshot of an era and steeped in style and beauty. The film recordings also capture the excitement and glamour. They allow us to travel through the time and space of the catwalks. In-depth interviews with some witnesses who were closely associated with the fashion house will further help contextualise the archive.

The archive delineates two periods: the student years from 1977 to 1982, where the seeds of creativity were laid; and the era of glorious fashion collections from 1983 to 2012, where Dirk Bikkembergs' vision came to fruition.

Upon completion of the project, the Bikkembergs archive will be transferred to MoMu, where it will be kept in optimal conditions, and where you can consult it in the reading room of the MoMu library. The 'paper' archive offers a dreamed complement to the extensive Bikkembergs clothing archive in the MoMu Collection.