The winners of the Belgian Fashion Awards

Last night Antwerp’s Bourlaschouwburg Theater was filled with all sorts of fashion enthusiasts – both professionals and aficionados – for the eighth and first public edition of the Belgian Fashion Awards. The award ceremony aims to show who is driving Belgian fashion forward on a national and international level. Talents from Brussels in particular were recognized.

Of course, Julian Klausner, the new creative head at Belgian fashion house Dries Van Noten, had to be high on this list with his first women’s and men’s collections in March and June. Klausner studied fashion at the renowned La Cambre University and joined Dries Van Noten in 2018. There he held various creative positions. He quickly became a trusted partner of the founder himself. Now he can continue to run the company. According to the jury, he has both the talent and the legitimacy to do it.

Actors of change

The Masjien agency was named ‘Changemaker of the Year’ for its activities at the intersection of fashion, sustainability and technology. “Jasmien Wijnants and Ann Claes inform, involve and promote dialogue about the future of fashion,” reports the Belgian fashion organization Flanders DC about the winners. In 2025 they launched Josie, an AI chatbot for all questions about greenwashing in fashion. They also started Motor, a digital fashion movement for idiosyncratic creatives.

Mats Rombaut was also nominated for the award. However, he went home with the accessories award for his independent and self-titled plant-based shoe project ‘Rombaut’. He also helped found Virón. This is another shoe label that offers alternative, vegan models. According to a press release from Flanders DC, Rombaut was presented as a role model in sustainability on his big evening.

The streetwear label MXDVS secured the ‘Love Brand of the Year’ award. This is the honorary title for brands that can retain loyal customers. This year the brand has not been idle. She presented a new knitwear collection, which also includes cushions and blankets, as well as a pop-up store in Antwerp. Designer Max Reynders was elected through a public vote. His anti-sterile gothic and streetwear aesthetic was the deciding factor, according to Flanders DC. Reynders is also a multi-talented artist with talents in graphic design, pattern design and jewelry design.

REantwerp, the label of designer Tim Van Steenbergen and journalist Ruth Goossens, was chosen as the ‘Emerging Talent Award’. The reason for this is the social aspects, which are given great importance in the company. We work with internally trained refugees and with residual materials.

Chloë Reners, recent graduate of the Antwerp Fashion Academy, is the ‘Most Promising Graduate of the Year’. She was awarded for her final collection ‘dot dot dot’. This is an examination of themes such as surrealism and the representation of women in art. She now lives in Paris. There she completed an internship at the French luxury fashion house Dior. So she is someone to keep an eye on.

professionals

Sonja Noël from the Brussels multi-brand store Stijl was named ‘Creative Professional of the Year’. Due to its 40th anniversary, it can now also be admired in the Brussels Fashion & Lace Museum. According to the jury, their commitment to giving young talents visibility with their own voices is commendable. Noël opened her first Brussels store – now there are two – in the mid-1980s. She started with the Antwerp Six. Through her curation, she contributed to the revitalization of the vibrant Dansaert district over time.

Designer Tony Delcampe became the face of the ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’, which honors exceptional career moves. There are no nominees for this. The international BFA jury decides independently who deserves the title. Delcampe is classically trained in textile design in Tournai and is an alumnus of La Cambre Mode(s). Since graduating in 1994, he has come an impressive way, according to the jury’s verdict. He has headed the La Cambre Mode(s) studio since 1999. There he accompanied the greats of today, such as Matthieu Blazy (Chanel) and Anthony Vaccarello (Saint Laurent).

New prices

New to this edition are the two award categories ‘Company of the Year’ and ‘Model of the Year’. The former went to streetwear label Arte Antwerp, which began with a T-shirt experiment based on creative director Bertony Da Silva’s art-loving and multidisciplinary aesthetic.

The model award went to Hanne Gaby Odiele. She was discovered by chance 20 years ago at the Novarock festival in Kortrijk, Belgium. The jury praised her for her influence on social media. There she creates awareness for gender identities and especially for intersex people who are not exclusively male or female due to their physical characteristics.

The jury

The talents were selected by a large international jury. This was a conscious decision to demonstrate the reach of Belgian fashion, as Flanders DC previously explained to FashionUnited. The list includes well-known faces such as Bianca Luzi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Belgian fashion brand Raf Simons, and Caroline Esgain, curator of the Fashion & Lace Museum Brussels. It also includes Saar Debrouwere, CEO of Italian fashion house Pucci, and Serge Carreira, head of emerging brands at the French fashion association Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. The pre-selection has already been made by fashion experts under the name ‘The Industry 200’.

It was the eighth edition of the Belgian awards ceremony. This has been organized since 2017 by Flanders DC, Mad Brussels, Wallonie Bruxelles Design Mode and Weekend Knack/Le Vif Weekend. What began as a student competition is now a full-fledged awards show for fashion talent from Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia.