Every year, in June, La Cambre Mode[s] presents its show. The Brussels based school, known as the training ground for future fashion greats, illustrates the collections of its Master 1 and 2 students in an intimate and creative showcase.
A showcase like no other
It’s a day in June like no other. On Friday the 13th, in the shadow of the Sainte-Gudule Cathedral, on the ground floor of the Reset Atelier, in this alternative venue of raw concrete is where La Cambre Mode[s] is put on display. Where the Masters 1 and 2 of the styling and fashion design workshop students complete their year, their curriculum. There are 12 of them, including 4 who will soon graduate.
Of course, they are a bit nervous, but we especially feel the eagerness to show off what they know how to do and what they have in their stomach, despite the collective fatigue. They accumulated technical and creative knowledge over several intense years, and in the process, they tried to find their signature style, necessarily singular.
The results are here, on this minimalist catwalk: Men’s or Women’s wardrobes, even fluid, which proudly display their technical and conceptual research, their reinterpretation of classics, their deviations from the codes, their inscription in a certain contemporaneity. Creativity is at the rendez-vous.
The Show Off 25
For this Show Off 25, we are amongst a small committee: some 75 guests, including the 22 members of the jury, made up of professionals from Milan (creators Lucie and Luke Meier), from London (Vogue journalist, Sarah Mower) or from Paris (artist Kristina de Coninck, former model and muse of Martin Margiela). Tony Delcampe, the head of workshop at La Cambre Mode[s], never stops wanting to “show the students’ work in a professional manner, with real school teaching”.
It is therefore far from a flamboyant parade at XXL size. “We are not at the circus,” he insists. “Teaching fashion today is not just pure expression, where we forget that making clothes must involve actually doing it. I have always defended this: clothing must be at the centre of our concerns. And again, the times are not festive, so I especially don’t want to put on a show. “
Across 12 silhouettes for Master 2, and 10 for Master 1, this is a question of offering a coherent and original set in terms of cuts, volumes, assemblies, dress codes, materials, styling and even accessories. If the requirements are high and these young designers are prepared to face the reality of creative studios, that’s what is to say. They are also familiar with them for having completed internships, which is a requirement for this workshop that trains the fashion leaders of the future.
The training outcomes
We are hardly predicting the future when we say this: look at the list of those who work at the head of the most desirable houses in this industry, from Matthieu Blazy at Chanel to Anthony Vaccarello at Saint-Laurent, from Nicolas Di Felice at Courrèges to Julien Dossena at Rabanne, from Julian Klausner at Dries Van Noten to Ester Manas, Marine Serre and Marie Adam-Leenaerdt for their name-sake label. Not to mention those who work in the shadows – fashion is not a solitary adventure.
In a world overwhelmed by images and clothing, these young people are invited to question them, to analyse them, to decrypt them, to seize them to better surpass them. “This is how we can invent new materials, new volumes and new ways of assembling,” says Tony Delcampe. “That’s what we see at the show but maybe not right away, you need to have a keen eye. The key word? Intelligent, it must be intelligent, because it is not about expression or emotion, otherwise we fall back into stereotypes and that’s what we want to avoid. We then feed the students plastically so that they have equipment and means to manage to balance all this.” Challenge accepted.
WBDM collaborated with Catwalkpictures for the photo coverage of the fashion show. See all the students’ creations in our dedicated section > Fashion shows gallery