A full year has passed since the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp Fashion Department’s pioneering digital graduation platform WWWSHOWW debuted under the guidance of headmaster Walter Van Beirendonck. Can you believe?
Since then, the virtual fashion spectacle has been doing numbers: 50.000 streams and counting while 10.744 people tuned in live. Right this instant, the Fashion Department is set for a brand-new 2021 edition of WWWSHOWWW, the momentous finale of hopefully the last academic year under COVID-19 restrictions. On Saturday June 19 at 8 PM, 150 fashion students of the Antwerp Academy will present their work online. The show will be broadcast live, totally free of charge and will contain new interactive additions as well as the welcome return of your fave meauxments from the tech-meets-tradition festivity of last year!
Good news for the ‘Blind Dates’ fiends among you: the instant classic student-designer interview video call portion of the show – previously featuring industry heavyweights like Dries Van Noten, Raf Simons, Demna Gvasalia, Glenn Martens, Stephen Jones, Simone Rocha, Christian Lacroix and the late Alber Elbaz – will also be part of this year’s extravaganza. You can re-watch last year’s calls on the @antwerpfashionofficial IG. The ‘Blind Dates’ will be complemented by the newly-added online showing of historical and traditional costumes.
Naturally, the apotheosis will still be the collection and video presentations of the 20 graduating Masters, supervised by Dirk Van Saene in collaboration with director and cinematographer Bjorn Tagemose, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and the city of Antwerp. In 2021, you’ll also get the opportunity to get closer to the designs of all four academic years via separately clickable, personal virtual rooms. The Masters will participate in the offline MASTERS EXPO 2021 as well, where 84 grads from all departments of the Academy will present their graduation pieces.
Until then, you can look for clues in the official poster design by Ingmar Patton Plusczyk with graphic design by thee virtuoso Paul Boudens - listen to the newest The Most podcast conversation with Paul Boudens here. As prep, you can also enjoy a preview of the class of 2021’s work, as shared via @antwerpfashionmasters and antwerpmasters.be, and start thrifting, crafting or click-and-collecting your look for Saturday June 19. We’ll catch you on the front row.
Mohammed El Marnissi - Master Graduate Class of 2021
Yentsé Jin - Master Graduate Class of 2021
Ezio Costa - Master Graduate Class of 2021
Luca Holzinger - Master Graduate Class of 2021
Kaya Gayoung Lee - Master Graduate Class of 2021
WWWSHOWWW 2021
June 19 2021 - 8 PM
No tickets or reservation needed
www.showww.be / #wwwshowww
Head to www.showww.be and subscribe for updates.
MASTERS EXPO 2021
Opening June 24 (8PM - 12AM)
Running from June 25 - 27 (11AM - 6PM)
Free entrance
Fashion Department MA Class of 2021 at Huidevettersstraat 39, 2000 Antwerp, see all locations here
Header: WWWSHOWWW Poster © Drawing: Ingmar Patton Plusczyk
