A.F. Vandevorst

A.F. VANDEVORST IS AN ANTWERP BASED BELGIAN FASHION BRAND FOUNDED BY THE DESIGNER DUO AN VANDERVORST AND FILIP ARICKX. THE PAIR MET IN 1987 DURING THEIR FIRST YEAR AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS IN ANTWERP, SOON REALIZING THEY BOTH COLLECTED RED CROSSES, WHICH LATER ON BECAME THEIR LOGO. AFTER THEIR GRADUATION, AN DID AN INTERNSHIP WITH MARTIN MARGIELA BEFORE BEING THE FIRST ASSISTANT OF DRIES VAN NOTEN FOR MORE THAN SIX YEARS, WHILE FILIP WORKED WITH DIRK BIKKEMBERGS.

THE BRAND EMERGED IN 1998 WITH THEIR FIRST SHOW IN PARIS, WITH FILIP AND AN GETTING ENGAGED IN THE SAME YEAR. THEIR INSPIRATION GOES FROM UNIFORMS, MILITARY WEAR, HOSPITALS, HORSE RIDING, RELIGIOUS COSTUMES, SURVIVAL FABRIC TO LEATHER TOGETHER WITH THE ARTIST JOSEPH BEUYS’S WORK, ALL THE WHILE INTEGRATING A FEMININE TOUCH. THE DUO ARE KNOWN FROM THE START FOR THEIR UNIQUE INSTALLATIONS AND ARTISTIC PURSUITS. IN 1999 THEIR SECOND SHOW FEATURED MODELS LAID SLEEPLIKE ON HOSPITAL BEDS SCATTERED ACROSS THE SPACE, WHILST IN 2000 THE SHOW HAPPENED IN AN OLD BATHHOUSE OF PARIS, RESULTING IN A PARTICULARLY UNCONVENTIONAL SHOW.

LINGERIE PLAYED A CENTRAL ROLE IN THE READY TO WEAR COLLECTIONS OF A.F. VANDERVORST, THE UNIQUE STYLE OF THE BRAND RESULTED FROM THE COUPLE’S FASCINATION FOR ARCHITECTURE AS WELL AS THE SEXUALIZATION AND DESTRUCTION OF THE BODY. IN 2018, FOR THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BRAND, AN AND FILIP RELEASED A BOOK, “ENDE NEU”, WHICH MEANS “AN END” AND SOMETHING “NEW” AT GALERIE YVON LAMBERT IN PARIS. AFTER 22 YEARS IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY, SPRING-SUMMER 2020 WAS THEIR LAST COLLECTION AVAILABLE IN STORE, EVEN THOUGH THE COUPLE MENTIONED THEY DID NOT PERCEIVE THIS AS THE END OF THEIR CAREER IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY.