This year, the Fashion & Lace Museum of Brussels honors the stellar career -and lasting legacy- of store owner and fashion buyer Sonja Noël, whose innovative STIJL boutiques not only turned the Dansaert area in the city centre into a hip and attractive neighborhood, but also had a profound impact on the Belgian fashion scene and its upcoming talents. Fearless, bold and passionate, Sonja Noël has always been on the lookout for singularity, character and originality, three factors that are becoming increasingly rare in fashion today.

Thematically organized, the Brussels retrospective covers more than 40 years of a life fully devoted to fashion. Acting as co-curator -and gladly rising to the challenge- her daughter Aya Noël did a great job going through thousands of documents and countless pieces of designer clothing to extract the essence of STIJL and what it truly stands for. In fact, it becomes clear viewing the exhibition that her mother didn’t just open new fashion stores in the heart of the European capital, she created temples of style where consistency, quality and integrity ruled.

In this exclusive interview, Aya Noël talks about the emotional process of putting the exhibition together with her mother, how STIJL contributed to a new and more desirable perception of Brussels, and why so many designers are deeply grateful to have had the chance to work with Sonja Noël.

This exhibition is not a classic retrospective, as it’s curated thematically as opposed to chronologically. Why did you go for that kind of approach?

I think this exhibition is primarily about my mother’s values and how she passed them on to me. She is not a person who seeks attention at all. She actually wants the stores -and the clients- to be her main focus. Still, I wanted this retrospective to feel intimate and personal, which I think we managed to achieve. There are family pictures we decided to include, because I felt they were important. My mother was so young when she opened STIJL

Your mother is a very discreet person. What made her decide to do this?

It was the journalist Béa Ercolini who had the idea to introduce my mother to Nicolas Lor and Caroline Esgain, who are the curators of the museum. By the time everyone agreed on getting started, the anniversary date for STIJL had already passed, so I guess there wasn’t much time left for my mother to have doubts or reservations about it.

Putting all emotions aside, your mother was very adventurous and took huge risks opening STIJL. Did she always have that sense of confidence?

She did. At the age of 23 -and not having graduated yet- she launched STIJL and never looked back. My mother comes from Grimbergen and I guess culture didn’t play an important part in her family, so it was either going back to Grimbergen or starting a new life in Brussels.

STIJL had a tangible impact on the Dansaert neighborhood, as well as the booming Belgian fashion scene. How did your mother choose the designers she wanted to support?

My mother studied Art History and always had an affinity with beauty, as well as an appreciation of aesthetics. She was stylish from an early age and understood fashion instinctively. One of the first designers she worked with was Marina Yee. And my mother looks for authenticity, too, as she genuinely hates designers who only do blah blah blah but have no substance.

She was Ann Demeulemeester’s very first client and now is also stocking Marie Adam- Leenaerdt, the raising star of Belgian fashion. Did your mother ever experience skepticism from the public because she was a young woman in fashion?

She told me this funny anecdote about a woman coming in and asking who the manager was. When my mother told her she was the owner, the woman simply couldn’t believe her. Then my mother looked at her and said: “You can always come back in 20 years. I will still be here.”

That’s brilliant and rather fearless of her. Behind her reserved appearance, your mother is quite a radical person and has strong opinions.

She does. I think she’s still a mystery to me. My mother is extremely disciplined, dedicated and hard-working, but she’s also generous and curious with people.

It’s true that many designers go to her just to get advice or guidance. And people are often surprised to see how available she is.

It was amazing to see how loved she is by the designers and how much they value her opinion and expertise. They all spoke highly of her, which was so touching. Of course, human contact is key within her work.

Are there any aspects of the industry she struggles with now?

I think the increasing digitalization of fashion is something my mother finds challenging. At the same time, she gets a kick out of young people coming to her store to buy one single piece they’re obsessed with. They might shop vintage or online, but they still come to STIJL to find something unique.

Your mother has a real point of view, which comes across in the ways she buys and curates the collections. What do you think makes STIJL so remarkable as a retail destination?

I think she wanted to create a space that felt peaceful and serene, away from the pressures of everyday life. When you walk into STIJL, you forget about stress and worries. It’s an invitation to beauty and contemplation.

She obviously sacrificed a lot to maintain that kind of success, but in the end she managed to build a temple of style, which seems to go beyond ephemeral trends.

You are not the first person who is referring to STIJL as a temple and it’s a fact that my mother has been completely devoted to fashion, working without fail. Now that she’s older, she understands there are other things, which are also important in life. She loves hiking and being in close contact with nature.

Would you say that the exhibition has changed your relationship at all?

Yes, it has. I feel that now that we have done the exhibition together and took on this huge professional challenge, we can put finally fashion aside and simply enjoy our bond as mother and daughter.