Ann Demeulemeester - member of the famous Antwerp Six, graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, an artist and most importantly, one of the greatest Belgium-based fashion designers to ever exist. She’s always been a creator, studying painting in Brugge before enrolling into the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp to study fashion design. Her favorite elements in all of the designs to put extreme effort and carefulness into were her significant style of cutting edges and famous indispensable masculine aesthetic that characterize Demeulemeester’s work from the very beginning. Studying among such great designers as Martin Margiela or Dirk Bikkembergs, who both had a huge impact on designer footwear during their whole career, Demeulemeester created her own significant style of shoes, fitting into the idea that her silhouettes visualised. Heavy combat boots are made with thick, dark leather and tend to be donned with laces that sometimes go around the ankle to create a minimalistic yet one-of-a-kind look. High heels are not a standard in Ann’s footwear collections but when they do appear, the heel is sculpted and formed down to the smallest detail. Nowadays, under the Italian ownership, Ann Demeulemeester as a brand is in the top 10 footwear brands at Antonioli and continues to impress.
Written by Julia Siechowicz