Belgian fashion flowers blossom in NY
November 21, 2006
| From one of the most thriving cities of fashion, Ann Torfs, student of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp and finalist in the ITS#FIVE competition, keeps up the good job. Ann was one of the five talented and gifted fashion designers representing the next generation of fashion design who were, for this reason, carefully selected by "The Blossom Project", an initiative conceived to honour their creativity and potential, offering a one-night-only exhibit this past October at the Chelsea Art Musem, New York, giving them the same exposure of top fashion icons. |
Read about and share with us Ann's experience: Not in the least I was prepared for what I was about to experience, this was my second time in New York and it seems to me that competitions always bring me there. (In 2003 I won a competition of the IFF, a flavours and fragrances designing company) But this time was different! I was there, amongst four other young Belgian designers, because my work was chosen by the editor in chief, Christine DeLassus, of Trace magazine that held the competition. I could show New York what I was made of, or at least a part of it. Our work was shown in the Chelsea Museum of Modern Art, a small but very fitting art gallery, it was such an amazing experience! There were a lot of press people, a lot of Belgian New Yorkers, young designers and many visitors. The exposition was opened by fashion icon Diane Von Furtsenberg, who has her roots in Belgium, and was attended by the Consul General of Belgium, Renilde loeckx, and Jurgen Maerschand, of Flanders Investment and Trade, who takes care of Flemish entrepreneurs who want to work with US companies. It feels really great to see your work for the first time up on the wall, watching people looking at them, listening in to what they have to say about it, your heart jumps up and down and you feel like you're on top of the world. |
 A few days in to my stay I visited a young designers team, FORM, those people were super nice, they showed me around their atelier, explained how they work, we talked about the business in New York as opposed to the rest of the world. There is still so much to learn! But I'm ready, SO LETS GO!!!!! www.theblossomproject.com |
