01FOR ALMOST FORTY YEARS, DRIES VAN NOTEN DID SOMETHING RARE: HE RAN
A MAJOR FASHION HOUSE ENTIRELY ON HIS OWN, NO CONGLOMERATE, NO
OUTSIDE OWNERS, FROM ANTWERP. AND HE TAUGHT A WHOLE INDUSTRY HOW
TO USE PRINT, PATTERN AND COLOUR WITHOUT FEAR.
02HE CAME UP WITH A LEGENDARY CLASS. VAN NOTEN WAS ONE OF THE
'ANTWERP SIX', BELGIAN GRADUATES WHO STORMED LONDON IN 1986 AND PUT
A SMALL CITY ON THE FASHION MAP. QUIET, CEREBRAL, THE OPPOSITE OF
FLASH: THEY REWROTE WHAT A DESIGNER COULD BE.
03PRINT WAS HIS LANGUAGE. VAN NOTEN LAYERED FLOWERS OVER STRIPES OVER
POP-ART OVER FOLK TEXTILE, MIXING HIGH AND LOW, EAST AND WEST, UNTIL
IT SOMEHOW ALL WORKED. HE MADE MAXIMALIST COLOUR LOOK INTELLIGENT,
NOT LOUD FOR ITS OWN SAKE.
04AND HE REFUSED THE USUAL GAME. FOR NEARLY ALL OF HIS CAREER VAN
NOTEN DID LITTLE ADVERTISING, CHASED NO IT-BAG, AND LET THE CLOTHES
SELL THEMSELVES. HE PROVED A DESIGNER COULD BE BOTH COMMERCIALLY
SUCCESSFUL AND ARTISTICALLY UNCOMPROMISED.
05HE STAYED INDEPENDENT WHEN ALMOST NO ONE ELSE COULD. AS RIVALS SOLD
TO LVMH AND KERING, VAN NOTEN KEPT CONTROL, RUNNING HIS HOUSE AT HIS
OWN PACE FOR DECADES. THAT FREEDOM IS WRITTEN ALL OVER THE WORK:
PERSONAL, PATIENT, UNHURRIED.
06HE RETIRED IN 2024, AFTER A FAREWELL PARIS SHOW, CLOSING ONE OF THE
GREAT INDEPENDENT RUNS IN FASHION. THE LESSON HE LEAVES: COLOUR IS
COURAGE, AND OWNING YOUR OWN NAME IS A LUXURY IN ITSELF. FEW MANAGED
BOTH FOR AS LONG AS HE DID.