Ann Demeulemeester was born in 1959 in Waragem, in the Belgian province of West Flanders.  After a stint at art school, Demeulemeester became supremely fascinated with the human form and went on to study at Antwerp’s Royal Academy from 1978 to 1981.  She graduated alongside other fashion bastions such as Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Marina Yee, Dirk Bikkembergs and Walter Van Beirendonck, who collectively later became known as the ‘Antwerp Six’.  This recognition came when the young designers took the world by storm after presenting their exciting avant-garde ideals at a London fashion show in the mid 80’s. They helped to raise the profile of Belgium as an emerging fashion nation, an achievement which has been awarded by the Belgian government.

Just a year after obtaining her degree, Demeulemeester won the annually awarded Gouden Spoel (Golden Spool) prize, which recognises the most promising up-and-coming fashion designer of that year.  The next few years saw her pushing the boundaries with her sensuous modern fashions with an ever present nod to gracefully classic and simple silhouettes as a freelance designer, before releasing her own line with her photographer husband Patrick Robyn in 1985.  It wasn’t long before this style brought forth more successes, which came to her in other awards, adding new lines, the creation of her own fashion empire in the form of ‘BVBA 32′ and on the international stage as catwalks lapped up her unique style in the big four of Paris, Milan, New York and London.

Although the head of an internationally successful business, Demeulemeester consistently strives to push herself, ensuring that her innovation is never suppressed.  Nor too, is her desire to be involved in every aspect of her business, to make sure it communicates exactly the right image.  Her own shop is an extension of her artistic vision and in her own words “the only way to create my own world”.  Housed in a traditional 19th century building in Antwerp and showing such contemporary designs, her shop really expresses her appreciation for classic forms in a new millennium.

Ann Demeulemeester’s clothes, like many designers at the top of the fashion industry, show a fresh, originality but still manage to convey a uniquely elegant signature style that tells you exactly who the designer is.  Her use of finely-worked leathers mixed with wool, that distinctive sheen upon the ever present dark and sexy hues and the trademark feather cut of quality furs shine through in each collection to confirm a Demeulemeester design.  Her subtle work with karakul, goat and mink furs has been an inspiration to a whole new generation of designers who are in awe of her inventive ways to manipulate materials and promote fur fashion.

Now recognised globally as being an independent, creative force in today’s catwalk fashions, her collections draw influence from so many different eras and genres from Japanese to punk, from gothic to 50’s glamour and from music to art.  These collections encompass women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, plus shoes and accessories including jewellery that are now sold in over 200 selected department and speciality stores in over 30 countries worldwide.