FEMALE PROTAGONISTS: Meryll Rogge was named designer of the yr on the 2024 Belgian Trend Awards on Thursday in Brussels.
“Meryll has arrived on the worldwide scene whereas nonetheless being herself. “It creates gender-fluid ready-to-wear, at all times listening to right now's world,” stated the jury, headed by pattern forecaster, editor and curator Lidewij Edelkoort and Philip Fimmano, pattern analyst and guide.
Rogge, born in Ghent, is the primary lady to obtain the excellence, awarded in earlier years to Anthony Vaccarello, Glenn Martens, winner in 2022 and 2018, Nicolas Di Felice, Christian Wijnants and Raf Simons.
A 2008 graduate of the Royal Academy of Nice Arts in Antwerp who dreamed of being an illustrator as a toddler, she swapped portray for textile sampling when she moved to New York.
After rising to grow to be a senior designer at Marc Jacobs for seven years, she returned to Antwerp working for Dries van Noten as head of girls's design in 2014 earlier than going solo in 2020. The next yr, she was named rising designer of the yr. on the Belgian Trend Awards.
A number of of Rogge's items have not too long ago been acquired by the MoMu museum in Antwerp and the Museum of Trend and Lace in Brussels.
Ladies took residence many of the awards this yr.
Taking residence the jury prize was veteran designer Marina Yee, who was a part of the group of Royal Academy graduates often known as the Antwerp Six alongside Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene and Dirk Bikkembergs.
After relaunching its eponymous model in 2022, it has greater than 40 distributors worldwide, together with New York's Dover Avenue Market and its counterpart in Los Angeles, Ssense and SKP in Beijing.
In the meantime, Marie Adam-Leenaerdt was named rising expertise of the yr. The La Cambre graduate launched her model in 2023 and has been featured on the official Paris Trend Week calendar for the reason that spring 2024 season. This yr she was additionally nominated for the ANDAM Prize and the LVMH Prize for Younger Designers.
The second version of the BFA equipment award went to Parisian Stéphanie D'heygere, who received the jury prize final yr.
Along with her six-year-old eponymous model, the place she deploys her concept that any object can grow to be an adjunct, the Maison Margiela and Dior alum has created jewellery for Jean Paul Gaultier, Jil Sander and Martens for each her Y/Mission and Diesel collections. She has additionally collaborated with manufacturers from Longchamp and Gentlemonster to Medea and Vaquera.
Different winners of the yr are textile designer Daniel Henry, named skilled of the yr; the sustainable style workshop RE Antwerp, based by designer Tim Van Steenbergen and journalist Ruth Goossens, as change agent of the yr, and Célestin Verheyden of La Cambre as most promising graduate. Household model 4 Roses was named model of the yr.
The jury chaired by Edelkoort and Fimmano included 2023 equipment prize winner Sarah Levy; Elisa De Wyngaert, curator of the MoMu museum in Antwerp; Eve Demoen, curator of the Modemuseum Hasselt; Nicolas Lor, curator of latest style on the Trend & Lace Museum; Lena-Sophie Röper, common director of design and luxurious at Zalando; Raïssa Verhaeghe, founder and CEO of style consultancy Raver; and Serge Carreira, head of the rising manufacturers initiative on the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, in addition to journalists and style editors.
The awards have been organized since 2017 by Flanders DC, a non-profit group launched by the Flemish authorities to advertise the design and style sector; the style and design platform MAD Brussels; Wallonie-Bruxelles Design Mode, which helps the internationalization of manufacturers based mostly in Brussels and within the French-speaking area of Wallonia, and the publications Weekend Knack and Le Vif Weekend.