years I was working on W.&L.T., and I did those big shows and worked with a larger team than I do now and I’d outsource a lot of drawing work to others. It surprised me that I produced such a large number of the base drawings that showcased the full looks. That’s mostly the case for the WELCOME LITTLE STRANGER and MEN IN BLACK (UFO) collections. I didn’t remember drawing those looks with the helmets and wigs, but I still found them by looking for them a second time. They were in black and white, and I initially said I wouldn’t pick out black-and-white sketches for this book. So, that was a surprising feeling, finding those drawings from the 90s even though my design process was almost completely different then. I was doing the designing myself but there were many other people adding to the process. I was also thrilled looking at those pencil drawings in the sketchbooks, seeing how detailed they were. The styling with the bowler hats and caps on top. The gnomes in LET’S TELL A FAIRYTALE, seeing the skirts and the fact that there was already a certain fluidity in those drawings. There’s a feeling there that I’ve been putting into my collections since the beginning. That’s nice to see.”
You feel a sense of pride looking back.
WVB: “Yes. Seeing all those pieces next to one another, and how pieces from the early days still fit with newer work. There are a lot of elements that are continuous and constant in my work and life.”
It’s very honest.
WVB: “It matches who I am and how I live pretty spot on. It’s not as if there’s a hidden agenda there. I make radical decisions, but I’m also the one to answer for them. Sometimes that works out better than at other times. But I couldn’t do it any other way. I wouldn’t be able to keep myself on a leash, or censor myself. That would make me unhappy or make me not want to do this anymore.”
What would you like the owners of these 976 pages of DRAW THE WORLD AWAKE to experience?
WVB: “I hope they can come with me on this fascinating journey. This book spans my entire career until now four decades in. A long stretch of time in which I’ve always been drawing and trying to download my imagination onto paper. I think it can be invigorating for young people developing their own creative sensibilities — students and people in fashion today. Maybe it will encourage them to really suss out their own identity and not be afraid of the ‘monster’ lying in wait ready to devour you while all you’ve got to defend yourself is a tiny sabre. Because that’s how the fashion world is seen today. I hope this book stimulates whoever holds it in their hands so that they can embark on their own never-ending journey.”
TO ALL FUTURE FASHION DESIGNERS: YOU ARE YOUNG, YOU ARE THE FUTURE! REACT TO AND RETHINK THE FASHION SYSTEM!
TIME TO CHANGE BE BRAVE BELIEVE IN YOURSELF BELIEVE IN YOUR POWER & CREATIVITY IT’S YOUR LIFE IT’S YOUR GAME PLAY IT TOUGH BUT FAIR BE AN ORIGINAL! DO REMEMBER: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
WALTER VAN BEIRENDONCK
AUTUMN-WINTER 1987–1988
DARE DEVIL DADDY
My grandmother used to tell me: ‘Get a job for which you need to wear a white shirt. It’s important.’ Back then, you had to aim for the suit and the white shirt. But as soon as I hit puberty, I knew I wanted more because of music and other influences. When I enrolled in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp at eighteen, the world opened up to me.
WALTER VAN BEIRENDONCK
AUTUMN-WINTER 1988–1989
SHOOT THE SUN, SHOOT THE MOON, BE A STAR
