wab magazine
summer 2017
wallonia and brussels
Discover a region that combines technical knowhow with quality of life
DEEP DIVE PHOTOGRAPHER HARRY FAYT LOOKS AT THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY Local companies soar at Paris Air Show 200 years of cutting-edge engineering in Wallonia
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Editorial From the future of Wallonia’s top thrill park (above) to a display of high-flying aerospace companies, the summer edition of Wab perfectly sums up the region’s winning blend of high-tech creativity and conviviality. In our profile series we speak to Walibi Belgium boss Jean-Christophe Parent about the park’s plans for expansion, while we devote a timely focus to the ever-successful activities of the region’s Skywin cluster, which was showcased at the Paris Air Show in June. Meanwhile, the 200th anniversary of Liège engineering firm Cockerill is an opportune time to look at the history of this global manufacturing group founded by an Englishman. It played a key role in the industrialisation of Belgium, and its innovation continues to be exported abroad. Another company driven by export success is Ardennes family firm Tilman. It started life as a pharmacy selling teas made from local plants; now its medicinal herbal remedies are sold around the world. Creativity is key to fuelling the economy in Wallonia. Our selection of culture, fashion and gastronomy stories shows how individual imagination and collective vision can bring pleasure to everyone.
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Wallonia and Brussels - Contact AWEX Wallonia Export-Investment Agency www.awex.be WBI Wallonie-Bruxelles International www.wbi.be Welcome Offices www.investinwallonia.be
Editor Sarah Crew Deputy editor Sally Tipper Reporters: Bartosz Brzezinski, Leo Cendrowicz, Andy Furniere, Clodagh Kinsella, Ellie Mears, Ian Mundell, Saffina Rana, Georgio Valentino Art director Patricia Brossel Managing director Hans De Loore AWEX/WBI and Ackroyd Publications Pascale Delcomminette – AWEX/WBI Marie-Catherine Duchêne AWEX, Place Sainctelette 2, 1080 Brussels, Belgium Tel: 00.32(0)2.421.85.76, Fax: 00.32(0)2.421.83.93 Email: mc.duchene@awex.be
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4 News and business updates from around the region
6 Meet theme park chief JeanChristophe Parent
8 200 years after it was
founded, engineering company Cockerill continues to embrace technology
Sonaca
11 Australian company invests
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locally in pharmaceutical advances
12 Herbal remedies: family firm
Tilman grows its exports
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Image tech company IntoPIX goes to Tokyo
15 Why Brussels expat
W Food Festival © Jehanne Moll
Alexandra Rogers loves litigation
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16 Wallonia’s aerospace sector showcases its strengths at the Paris Air Show
21 W Food Festival celebrates
local gastronomy
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The town of Spa puts on a show for summer
24 Film, gaming and digital arts at Charleroi's Quai10
26 Fashion duo Façon Jacmin
breathe new life into denim
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Photographer Harry Fayt dives deep for the perfect shot
© Façon Jacmin
30 Our pick of cultural events
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in Wallonia and Brussels
Cover: Portrait of the Young Woman with Unicorn by Harry Fayt
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.NEWS
FILM & TV BRIEFS After the success of La Trêve (The Truce), it’s now the turn of thriller Ennemi public (Public Enemy) to be exported to the US. The broadcasting rights for the French-language Belgian series have just been acquired by AMC Networks for its video-on-demand platform, Sundance Now. Public Enemy, set in the Ardennes, was launched on La Une (RTBF) in May last year. It was produced by Entre Chien et Loup and Playtime Films, with support from the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, CasaKafka Pictures and Wallimage-Bruxellimage. The Dardenne brothers’ classic film L’Enfant has been included in the New York Times’ list of the 25 best films of the 21st century. JeanPierre and Luc Dardenne’s film was placed 14th. L’Enfant, starring Jérémie Renier and Déborah François, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005.
KANEKA EUROGENTEC EXPANDS LIÈGE PRODUCTION BASE International biotech company Eurogentec has announced the construction of a new production zone at its site in Seraing, Liège. The expansion will enable the company to manufacture biopharmaceutical products on a larger scale. Japanese company Kaneka acquired a majority stake seven years ago in Eurogentec, which was founded in 1985 by two Liège University researchers. The company employs 339 people, of whom 260 are based in Liège. It is one of the most important suppliers of genomic and proteomic kits, used in the final phase of clinic trials. Pascale Delcomminette, general manager of the Walloon Export and Foreign Investment Agency (AWEX), welcomed the investment. “This announcement strengthens our vision and our continual efforts to reinforce and show the attractiveness of Wallonia for the development of R&D and high-tech production,” she said. “During a visit to Japan last October, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Kimikazu Sugawara, the president of the board of administrators of Kaneka in Osaka, in order to reinforce the positive collaboration between AWEX and the Kaneka group.” secure.eurogentec.com
Several francophone Belgian films were selected for the Palm Springs International Shortfest at the end of June. The short films were supported by Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. They were: Betelgeuse by Bruno Tracq,, produced by Wrong Men; Le scénariste by François Paquay, produced by Take Five; Etat d’alerte sa mère! by Sébastien Petretti, produced by Lovo Films, Abyssal Process, WFA Pictures and Squarefish; plus the documentary Ma fille Nora by Jasna Krajinovic, produced by Dérives; Dem Dem! by Christophe Rolin, Pape Bouname Lopy and Marc Recchia, co-produced by Man’s Films Production and produced by Ciné Banlieue Dakar (co-production: Belgium, Luxembourg, Senegal).
NEW MUSEUM THIS AUTUMN FOR LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE Belgium’s first large-scale university museum, Musée L, opens this autumn in Louvain-la-Neuve. Presenting a dialogue between scientific collections and art works, its inauguration in an important heritage building is scheduled for 18 November. The Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) institution occupies a space of more than 4,000m2, in Place des Sciences. Built by architect André Jacqmain, it was one of the first constructions following the linguistic separation of the University of Leuven in 1968. The museum will house a collection of more than 32,000 natural history, science and art items from around the world. museel.be
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Welcome to BelgiumDC Leading Walloon IT company NRB is investing €7 million to build a new data centre in Villers-Le-Bouillet, called BelgiumDC. The project will reinforce the company’s customised hybrid cloud strategy. Building work started in March and the first module, with a capacity of 100 computer bays, should open in October. Herstal-based NRB has joined forces with international data centre manufacturer and operator Etix Everywhere to launch the shared centre.
Alstom Belgium reports overflowing order book with €35 billion Alstom’s Charleroi-based subsidiary has increased its orders over the past five years. Specialised in power electronics and signalling systems, the company has contracts in Belgium, the Netherlands, the US, India and China. Its Charleroi site has more than 1,000 employees, of whom 550 are engineers. Recent cutting-edge developments include the installation of Atlas, its solution developed around the European Railway Traffic Management System. For the past financial year, the group has recorded orders representing one-and-a-half times its turnover (€7.3 billion). It’s order book is currently worth €34.8 billion, which represents nearly five years of business. Recent contracts include Intercity trains in the Netherlands, new high-speed trains for the Boston-Washington line, and 800 locomotives destined for Indian Railways. Alstom Charleroi dedicates 8% of its turnover to research.
BRIEFs Wallonia increased its exports to countries outside the EU in 2016. Foreign exports grew by 2.1% last year to €39.3 billion, according to a report by AWEX, Wallonia’s export and investment agency, published in June. The figure represents a record 21.9% of total exports. The leading sector reporting a rise in sales abroad was chemical and pharmaceutical products. Liège University researcher Thibaut Detroux has created a software solution studying vibrations in aeroplanes that has triggered interest from the aerospace industry, including the US Air Force, Safran and Airbus. The 28-year-old’s research, Performance and Robustness of Nonlinear Systems Using Bifurcation Analysis, has been named the best PhD thesis in Belgium in mechanical engineering. The software program can be used to detect vibrations that could cause dangerous alterations to a complex structure such as an aircraft in specific conditions including strong winds and turbulence.
©Yves Hermans/Reuters
Two Walloon restaurants, l’Air du Temps and Le Coq aux Champs, have been ranked 31st and 128th respectively in US rankings of the 200 best European restaurants. Two-Michelin-star L’Air du Temps in Namur province, led by star chef Sang-Hoon Degeimbre, was praised for “raising the concept of food pairing to an art form”, while Christophe Pauly of one-star Le Coq aux Champs (Liège province) was described as “a true craftsman… Between precision and refinement, the chef manages to transform each product”.
The annual Ommegang pageant entertained thousands of spectators in July. As a historical reenactment of the entry of Emperor Charles V and his son Philip into the city in 1549, it is one of the region's outstanding folklore processions. More than 1,400 performers brought the event alive.
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Passengers can now snack on Belgian fries thanks to the opening of the friterie Fritapapa at Brussels South Charleroi Airport. The outlet has a super-efficient fryer and unusual decor and is situated outside the passenger terminal.
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.profile
In the spotlight ŠReporters / E Herchaft
Jean-Christophe Parent The managing director of Walibi Belgium lives in Hannut, Liège province. Since 2011 he has led the popular attraction park in Wavre, which has recently announced a major transformation plan
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This transformation is a new page in Walibi’s history
What can you tell us about the new development? We’re investing more than €100 million over a number of years, and the first brick was laid last year with the opening of the Pulsar, a thrilling water ride. The objective is to create more fantastic moments for the public and to continue to be at the summit of theme parks. This transformation is a new page in Walibi’s history. We are enlarging the park by 4.5 hectares and we will create eight new themed zones with individual landscaping, four new restaurants offering different culinary experiences, and 10 new rides. We currently employ 300 people fulltime equivalent and this will increase by 12-15%.
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Are you rebranding Walibi?
What’s your background?
It’s more a continual process of renewal and improvement. The expansion is principally based on two things: customer satisfaction surveys completed by our visitors and studies into future sociological and technological trends. The visitor will be more immersed in the park than previously and it will be an all-round experience, including the atmosphere and the food outlets. It’s an important investment, so prices will rise, but it’s mainly an opportunity to increase internal sales though the restaurants and gift shops. We have to offer a higher quality experience, so the visitor is ready to pay the price. But it’s part of our DNA to be a park that is accessible to most families, so we have to still be attractive to a large sector of the population. The aim is to increase daily visitors, but while the maximum figure is 20,000, this will only be on exceptional high season days. It’s important that people feel comfortable here.
I have a degree in business studies, a master’s in management from Solvay Brussels School and a certificate in people and organisation from the Louvain School of Management. It’s important to continue your education. I’ve always been interested in the leisure and tourism sector and I was lucky enough to start my career at Club Med in the Bahamas, Spain, France and Morocco. It was a great experience, and a chance to experience communal life, its advantages and disadvantages, but also a good multicultural experience, which enabled me to have a better understanding of the world.
What goes on in the park over the winter? People often joke that we work for six months and sleep for six months, but it’s actually busier than people think. For me, it’s a very intense period. We prepare new business strategies and marketing, and of course there’s maintenance and gardening work. In 2018 we will be enlarging our water park Aqualibi, creating a new zone for children who can’t swim yet. It’s important to offer a wide range of activities for children of different ages. We will also build an adventure park and a family ride for children taller than 1 metre so they can have their first roller coaster experience.
How would you management style?
describe
your
I would say it’s based principally on listening and confidence. Listening, because in a society like ours, and especially in leisure and tourism, you have to recognise your employees as individuals. Confidence is also an essential element because we’re working with human beings. If you don’t show them confidence, they can’t have a good time with clients. Whether it’s Club Med or Walibi, people have to feel relaxed and work in an atmosphere of complete confidence. I’m always happy to have direct contact with our clients; it’s fun, and important to understand what they want. We can do that simply by moving out from behind the scenes to talk to people. After all the planning, it’s very satisfying to participate in this first phase of the park’s expansion. It’s not really a job for me, it’s a passion. walibi.com/belgium
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.WORK
Cockerill at 200 The engineering and manufacturing company set up by an Englishman in 1817 is still going strong By Ian Mundell
• The Khi Solar One power plant in South Africa uses a CMI Solar thermal receiver
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M
uch has changed in the 200 years since Englishman John Cockerill established his engineering and manufacturing company in Seraing, taking over the former palace of the Bishop-Princes of Liège in 1817. And yet, if he returned to the castle today, he would still recognise the business taking place inside. “Two hundred years on, we are still living off his vision of innovation and export,” says Eric Franssen, who is responsible for business development at Cockerill Maintenance & Ingénierie (CMI). This global business group continues both its founder’s name and his interests. “Today we are an innovating and engineering company in fields that John Cockerill was already involved in 200 years ago,” he says, “such as locomotives, steam generators, mechanical equipment for the steel industry, guns and cannons.” This sense of continuity is a theme of bicentenary celebrations that are taking place in Seraing and elsewhere in Wallonia throughout the year. John Cockerill was born in Lancashire, England in 1790. At the age of 12 he moved to Verviers, now in Belgium but then under French rule, where his father, William, had established a business mechanising the weaving industry. In 1807 the family moved to Liège, with John and his older brother Charles James managing the business. Growth was huge and they exported their machines into France and the Rhineland. When the Dutch took control of Liège in 1815, the Cockerill brothers found a new patron.
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William of Orange not only offered to sell them the castle at Seraing, but also invested in the company they set up there. As before, they designed and built machines, but they also took the region’s coal, limestone and iron ore to make their own steel. The result was one of the first integrated industrial companies in history, producing looms, steam engines, cannons, boilers, locomotives and ships. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the company was particularly important in the development of the railways. Cockerill built both the first steam locomotive on continental Europe, Le Belge, and supplied the rails to build the first line, from Brussels to Mechelen, in 1835. All was not plain sailing though. In 1839 a banking crisis drove the firm to the brink of ruin, prompting the Belgian government to propose a public buyout. John Cockerill, by then the sole owner of the company, rejected the idea, instead travelling to Russia with a bold plan to build railways for the Tsar. On the way home, in June 1840, he died of typhoid fever in Warsaw. Cockerill had no children, so the business was taken up on behalf of the family by a cousin and nephew, Gustave Pastor. He helped restore its economic fortunes and turned it into a public limited company. In the decades that followed, the John Cockerill Company grew dramatically, both in Europe and by opening new markets, for example in China. Steel production and coal mining gradually overshadowed the engineering and manufacturing side of the business. This concentration
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.WORK
• Cross-section of the Semmering locomotive
increased during the 20th century as the company went through a series of mergers with other local steel producers. In 1982 the steel company turned its mechanical construction division into a separate subsidiary, called Cockerill Mechanical Industries (CMI). In 2002 this was sold to a group of independent private shareholders, who still own the company today. The name Cockerill Maintenance & Ingénierie, still CMI, was adopted in 2004. Although independent, CMI began life heavily dependent on designing and making equipment and providing maintenance services for the steel industry. “The management’s vision, under Bernard Serin, was to instil a strong spirit of innovation,” Franssen recalls. “There was a reorganisation, commercial development and diversification, both in sectors and geographically.” New business was created, for instance carrying out maintenance work for nuclear power stations and wind farms, and new activities began in China, Brazil, Mexico and Africa, to name but a few. “This is why our workforce has risen from 1,500 in 2002 to 4,600 today,” Franssen says. It
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is divided into five sectors, covering energy, defence, industry, environment and services. In a sense the company has now come full circle. “It remains what it was 200 years ago,” says Franssen. “I think John Cockerill would recognise the CMI of today more than the CMI that was part of the Cockerill Group twenty years ago.” Even so, the absence of manufacturing and steelmaking at Seraing might puzzle him. “There are hardly any workshops left, not just on this site but anywhere in Belgium, or Western Europe more broadly.” Although most of the manufacturing has gone, locomotives are still assembled at Seraing and it’s home to the company’s welding academy. “The evolution in materials means new welding technologies have to be developed,” Franssen explains. “We do that, and we train the people who will either do the welding on site or supervise the welding that we ask companies to do.” But for the most part Seraing is an administrative centre, with some 600 people taking care of corporate services such as finance, commercial direction and human resources, along with some operational units. “We export
to the four corners of the Earth, and you have to be based somewhere,” Franssen says of the location. “Belgium has great transport connections, particularly with Africa, it has good universities and good people.” CMI still occupies Château Cockerill, which has just been restored to its former glory. Work was completed in May, in time for a visit by King Philippe to mark John Cockerill Company’s bicentenary. The John Cockerill Foundation has been set up to work on the company’s heritage, both this year and into the future. It has overseen production of a book on the castle's history and a TV documentary about John Cockerill’s life. Currently there is an exhibition in Liège that explores his legacy of invention and technological development in Wallonia. Later there will be an academic conference on technology and society, where the aim will be to reflect on the company of tomorrow. The foundation also plans to set up a John Cockerill prize, to recognise technological developments that serve both industry and sustainable development. cockerill200.com cmigroupe.com
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The Australian connection Pharmaceutical company works with Walloon partners on diagnostic tool By Andy Furniere
A
ustralia’s Clarity Pharmaceuticals has established a subsidiary in Liège, where it will develop new innovations and expand its network in Europe. The company is working on a project with a variety of Walloon partners, which the Walloon government is supporting with a grant of about €650,000. Clarity Pharmaceuticals’ partnership with local company Anmi is key to this collaboration. “We have similar aspirations and goals,” says spokesperson Lisa Sadetskaya. “We knew we needed to work together to grow.” Along with three other Walloon partners – Delphi Genetics, the Centre for Microscopy and Molecular Imaging and Toxikon – the companies will spend 18 months developing a diagnostic tool called PlateView. The tool should help to detect vulnerable plaque, a medical problem that can lead to blocked arteries and eventually a heart attack or stroke. Most of the time, people suffering from this condition don’t have any symptoms before they lose cardiac function. “There is currently no reliable way to detect this,” says Sadetskaya. PlateView is a radio-labelled antibody fragment that should be able to target activated platelets in the body. This will allow activated
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©IngIm
age
platelets to be visualised via positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Unstable plaques are rich in activated platelets, so PlateView could be used to detect these plaques that lead to heart problems. After 18 months of development, clinical trials in humans will begin to further test its working. Clarity’s collaboration with Wallonia goes further than this project, however. In March, the Sydney-based company opened its first European subsidiary in Europe. “Apart from the great expertise of its companies, we also believe Wallonia is well-positioned in Europe for logistics and collaborations with other countries,” says Sadetskaya. The subsidiary will be an R&D company. “We plan to run early product development from the company and advance products towards human clinical trials through the
work of academic researchers, clinical researchers and research companies,” she says. For the first year, Clarity Pharmaceuticals will invest €150,000 in its subsidiary, called Clarity Pharmaceuticals Europe. “We also plan increasing investments in subsequent years,” Sadetskaya says. The subsidiary is currently housed in the offices of Anmi in Liège and doesn’t have staff of its own, but the plan is to hire local staff soon. In a statement, Walloon economy minister Jean-Claude Marcourt said he was delighted with the investment. “The pharmaceutical sector is key to attracting foreign investment,” he said. “Clarity Pharmaceuticals will enrich our already well-developed biotech economic fabric even further.” claritypharmaceuticals.com anmi.be
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Time for tea Tilman’s popular herbal remedies are sold in more than 40 countries around the world By Saffina Rana
F
rom a modest producer of herbal teas, Tilman has grown into a medicinal success story with a multi-million-euro turnover and a 42% growth in exports last year. Its Thé du Vieil Ardennais has been a household name in Belgium since the 1940s. Derived from mistletoe, quackgrass, liquorice and olive leaf and designed to reduce hypertension and water retention, it was developed in 1947 by pharmacist Lucien Tilman at his pharmacy in the village of Bomal-sur-Ourthe, in the picturesque Ardennes countryside. By the late 1950s, its popularity had led to the development of several tisanes to ease the likes of cold symptoms and joint pain. Tilman transferred his passion for plant-based cures to his son and grandsons, and today Tilman produces a range of herbal medicines with a multi-million-euro export business.
fytol), treat joints (Flexofytol) and aid digestion (Antimetil). “The cholesterol, anxiolytic and articular markets are among the most important in every country,” explains Manoël Tilman, one of Lucien’s grandsons who is in charge of exports. “Patients are looking for alternatives to the traditional synthetic medicines that may induce side effects in certain cases. We want to offer these patients a safe and effective option with our products.” The innovation from herbal teas to highgrade medicinal products happened organically. According to Tilman, the popularity of the tisanes grew in the
1970s, with the boom in the Belgium phytotherapy market, which consisted exclusively of herbal teas. The end of the 1970s was also when his father, Lucien’s son Jean-Noël, decided to study pharmacy. “He also read a lot of literature on medicinal plants, which was not really part of university teachings. By the time he graduated, he knew he wanted to increase the sales of the Tisanes Ardennaises and to modernise the production processes. However, for such a workforce to be profitable, they had to develop new medicinal products alongside the herbal teas and sell them in pharmacies.” In 1985, Jean-Noël took over the small-scale laboratory production, and with six staff he
Ten Tilman products have marketing authorisations as herbal medicinal products and are sold at pharmacies in more than 40 countries. Last year, they generated around 50% of the company’s €30.6 million turnover. The best-sellers include a passionflower preparation to reduce anxiety (Sedistress), a thyme-based expectorant cough syrup (Thymoseptine), and food supplements to regulate cholesterol levels (Choles-
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formulated his first products – slimming tablets using fucus algae (Phytoline), and a meadowsweet, birch and ash tree preparation for joint trouble (Dolofytol). “The success of these two products made it possible to work on new ones and to expand the workforce,” Tilman says. In 1998, the company moved into cutting-edge facilities in Baillonville, Namur, and started work on areas including stress management and digestive problems. It attracted the support of regional development funds. “We received our first government grants when we moved in 1998,” he says. “We now have very good support from the Walloon Region with investment subsidies of 12 to 18%, and from AWEX with subsidies covering around 50% of our international proceedings. We also have funding from Sowalfin, Sofinex and Namur Invest, and free help from the BEP.” The company started exporting to France as early as the 1950s, followed by Switzer-
land and Lebanon in the 1960s. It amassed clients in Malaysia, Poland, Ghana and Taiwan, but by the end of 2000, export sales were less than €100,000, says Tilman. This is in stark contrast to 2016, when they brought in just over €6 million. “Our exports have increased over the past fifteen years with contracts we signed in Algeria, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. They are still our three main clients and have accompanied us in our growth,” he explains. Expansion has always been sales-orientated, he adds. The company now has 165 employees and more than 40 preparations, and it invests €1.5 million each year in research and development. In 2012 its turnover was €17.5 million. Last year it hit €30.6 million, with a forecast for 2019 of €50 million. It’s not surprising, then, that Tilman won Ernst & Young’s Belgian Enterprise of the Year award in 2013. But things haven’t always been so rosy. Tilman suffered financial losses with the economic downturn in
2008. To prevent the same thing happening in 2009, the company implemented a cost-cutting programme, part of which involved reducing the workforce. “It was a mistake,” says Tilman. “The cut in costs that was obtained proved to be minor in comparison with the impact it had on our staff – a lot of them started to fear for their jobs and question the future of the company.” It was a demoralising time for a company built on trust, mutual respect and sustainable development. Rebuilding trust took time but has ultimately led to the company’s success, explains Tilman. “Trust is everything to us. It has always been one of our core values,” he says. “Our employees are highly trustworthy and this is something we want to reward. We share 15% of our after-tax earnings with all our employees, on an equal basis. They have a high level of responsibility and flexible working times. The success of any venture is based on its people.” tilman.be
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Trust is everything to us. It has always been one of our core values Manoël Tilman
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2020 vision Local image technology will ensure viewers get the best possible view of the Tokyo Olympics By Andy Furniere
W
ith its innovative compression technology, Mont-Saint-Guibert company IntoPIX has attracted the interest of Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK. It hopes the Walloon software can show viewers the action from the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 in revolutionary 8K ultra-high definition. Before images of live news reports or sports events shot by cameras reach our screens, they are compressed – meaning the size of the data is reduced to make the transmission smoother. Thanks to IntoPIX’s software expertise, like the widely adopted Tico technology, this reduction in size doesn’t mean a loss of quality. Since its creation in 2006 as a spin-off of the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL),
IntoPIX has convinced clients all over the world with its image technology. “99% of our business activity concerns clients abroad,” says spokesperson Jean-Baptiste Lorent. “80% concerns clients outside Europe.” These clients are attracted by the many advantages offered by IntoPix’s solutions. “We enable more effective transmission, higher resolution, better colours, less power consumption and reduced operating costs of live broadcasts,” Lorent explains. While we are familiar with HD television, IntoPIX is thinking a few steps further ahead, by improving ultra-high-definition quality (UHD). Its focus is now on 8K UHD or 8K resolution, currently the highest quality available.
As Japan is traditionally at the forefront of audiovisual technology, with giants in the field like Sony and Panasonic, IntoPIX’s innovations are eagerly picked up there. National broadcaster NHK can now count on Walloon expertise to broadcast the Tokyo Olympic Games in the best quality possible to viewers around the world. IntoPIX has already demonstrated that its technology can live up to the expectations surrounding such huge events. “We have a lot of experience of broadcasting international sports events; our software was used during the last Olympics in Rio,” Lorent says. “This new success should open up more opportunities.” Apart from expanding its scope in its current target markets, the company is also exploring new opportunities. “As well as professionals, in the future we want to reach consumers more,” says Lorent. “Next year, we are going to attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for the first time.” The event is the most prestigious trade show in the world for developers of electronics and digital devices. IntoPIX is aiming to improve the experience of watching videos on a smartphone as well as the quality of the photos taken with a smartphone. By lowering the energy consumption needed for these purposes, it could lead to phone batteries lasting longer. The company is also looking into solutions to enhance the working of VR headsets as well, to make the virtual experience more impressive and comfortable. intopix.com
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Meet the BRUSSELS expat
specialising in EU and competition law, and defend companies that are the subject of competition investigations by the European Commission. I’ve also worked on several pro bono matters covering interesting environmental, human rights and sports law issues. Although I have many criticisms of how the EU functions, I think it’s inspiring that Europe has created a system to resolve its disputes based on the rule of law. I see my role as a lawyer as key to maintaining public trust in European justice.
Originally from the UK, Alexandra Rogers is a competition lawyer at the global law firm White & Case. She sees her role as maintaining public trust in European justice
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“I
was born in the UK and spent a couple of years in Australia as a child, and there is a part of Oz that will always be in me. We moved to Belgium so my father could work at the Solvay HQ in Brussels. It was quite a difference in lifestyle, but we fell in love with the country, in particular its beautiful cities and delicious food. I later moved back to England to study law and started working there as a lawyer. I came back to Belgium in 2006 for a secondment to an international law firm but felt immediately at home again, and decided to specialise in EU law at the College of Europe in Bruges. Ten years later, I’m still here. I work at the Brussels office of the global law firm White & Case. I’m a local partner
I particularly enjoy litigation – there’s no hiding place in court so you have to be ready with your arguments and answers to tough questions. Law is a demanding profession with long hours, and the work/ life balance is particularly hard for women with family commitments. White & Case takes a very progressive approach to such issues, and even promoted me to local partner while I was on maternity leave. A typical day for me starts with the Olympic sport of getting our baby son, Raphaël, dressed and off to crèche. At work, I usually draft submissions or have meetings with colleagues and clients. I try to have lunch outside the office and catch up with friends, but that’s not always possible. I come home around 18.00 and play with Raphaël for a while before it’s bath and bedtime for him. My husband – also an EU lawyer – is in charge of cooking, so I usually plug back into work while he gets things ready. The evenings are ours – at least for now!” whitecase.com/law/western-europe/ belgium
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The sky’s the limit Wallonia’s aerospace cluster Skywin cruises into Paris Air Show By Leo Cendrowicz
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mid the corporate jets, the army helicopters and the flying cars paraded on the tarmac at Le Bourget Airport outside Paris in June, there was a corner of Wallonia that was enjoying a moment in the sun. Rubbing shoulders with the Boeings, Airbuses, Learjets and Rolls Royce engines at the Paris Air Show were 54 aerospace companies from a region just a two-hour drive away, making names for themselves in areas as diverse as avionics, composite manufacturing, 3D printing, software, drones, wing parts, pilot training and space telescopes. These companies gathered at Le Bourget under the banner of Skywin, the high-tech initiative that is quietly changing Wallonia’s economic branding. “It may surprise people to hear that Wallonia is doing well in the aerospace industry,” says Etienne Pourbaix, Skywin’s managing director. “We’ve
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been able to help people come together on projects in many aerospace areas, and we have built up an industry that is starting to become known around the world.” Skywin is Wallonia’s cluster for aeronautics and aerospace, gathering start-ups and established companies, along with researchers. It covers an industry that accounts for 7,000 jobs in the region and generates €1.6 billion in annual sales, with about 80% of them in aeronautics and 20% in aerospace. Set up in 2006, the network gathers five main regional players including Alcatel Etca, Sabca, Sonaca, Techspace Aero, Thales Communications Belgium and a large group of innovative SMEs working in engines, structures, systems and equipment technologies. The key to Skywin is that it brings the companies, training centres and research unit-
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We have been able to prove that Wallonia is a player in the aerospace sector Etienne Pourbaix
Helping 3D printers fit the mould Any-Shape is a Flemalle-based 3D printing company that makes parts for highly demanding industrial applications. CEO Roger Cocle says Skywin was invaluable to his company’s launch, but it was not the only reason it developed. “The idea behind Skywin is to develop research projects,” he says. “Skywin does not create start-ups. But it does put the companies together so they can get commercial partners and government subsidies for research and development. Although the sector is new, Any-Shape already has many applications for clients, which include: • selective laser melting (SLM), where a high-power laser beam creates 3D metal parts in aluminium, titanium, steel and Inconel (a nickel alloy with chromium and iron) • selective laser sintering (SLS), where lasers create plastic parts by melting fine polyamid powder with alumide (a material consisting of nylon filled with aluminium dust) or glass beads • multi-jet printing (MJP) systems, which use high-performing plastic for prototypes, mock-ups or patterns for silicon moulds • reinforced plastic with micro carbon fibres, fibreglass, carbon fibre and Kevlar fibre Cocle spent four years at Skywin before creating Any-Shape. During that time, he saw that 3D printing was an emerging technological sector, but also that there were no major 3D industrial projects in Belgium. “I felt this was an area we needed to be in,” he says. “It’s not enough to buy a 3D printing machine – you have to do more. Any-Shape offers a lot of 3D options, and now we aim to be one of the top ten players in Europe over the next three years.” He says Skywin has been focused on the skills that the Walloon aerospace sector has to master over the next few years if it is to remain competitive. “And they open doors: they set up meetings with business executives from big names like Airbus, Boeing and Thales,” he says. any-shape.com
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stogeter and funds research in public and private partnership. The idea is to build synergies around common and innovative projects. Since 2006, Skywin has labelled 72 projects for a global budget of €225 million. Skywin also has established a strong partnership with a dedicated aeronautics training centre, Wallonie Aerotraining Network, or WAN. The training sessions cover areas like aircraft and equipment design, product manufacturing and ‘soft skills’ like communication, adaptability, teambuilding and creativity. It has provided more than 200,000 training hours, and around three-quarters of trainees find a job in aerospace. The politicians, generals, celebrities and aviation buffs who come to Le Bourget gasp at the slick machines on the ground and the dazzling flight displays overhead. But the main reason for coming is to buy products, and Skywin gives the Walloon firms huge visibility as part of the network of connected companies. “This year we have fifty-four participants in Le Bourget, up from forty-eight in 2015,” says Pourbaix. “Frankly, after talking to other clusters in other countries, I can say this has given an image of dynamism, showing we want to move ahead.” While each of the Skywin partners had a stand in the main hall, they were also able
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to entertain clients at a special chalet on the Bourget airfield. “We had 150 lunches and dinners each business day at the chalet, which proved to be an exceptional tool for hospitality.” There are 144 members of Skywin, of which 111 are companies (83 SMEs and 28 large firms), 23 research centres, two training centres, and eight agencies and associations. It is organised around six strategic headings: • composite materials and processes • metallic materials and processes (including additive manufacturing process) • embedded systems ( for aeroplanes, satellites or drones) • airport services • space and drone applications and systems • modelling and simulation (as transverse orientation) A key area is materials for the aerospace industry. Weight has always been an essential concern for airplane design-
Skywin boosts Safran’s research Many companies in the aerospace sector are already investing heavily in research, but Skywin gives a further boost to their efforts, according to Vincent Duprez, the innovation director of Safran Aero Boosters. Safran Aero Boosters is a Belgian subsidiary of the Paris-based Safran, which builds aircraft and rocket engines. It’s a world leader in its four product lines: low pressure compressors (boosters), engine oil system equipment, space valves and turbojet test benches. With a workforce of 1,500 and an annual turnover of around €675 million, Safran Aero Boosters already reinvests between 15 and 20% of its annual turnover into research and development – or more than €100 million. Although those investments are financed with its own money, Skywin funding is a much-needed extra, Duprez says. “Skywin funding is often an incentive to start projects with higher risk,” he says. “Skywin also enables the Walloon industrial network, which includes small and large companies as well as start-ups, and research centres. This facilitates the creation of powerful associations to work on specific themes, and associations where each member sees a concrete interest in its field of activity.” Duprez points to Skywin support for projects on advanced technologies such as embedded systems, modelling, simulation, advanced materials (composite and metal alloys), aerospace and drone applications. “It is difficult to measure the exact impact of these Skywin projects, but it is clear that it is a way to accelerate research and networking projects at Safran Aero Boosters,” he says. The company now files more than 30 patents each year. Although Wallonia is known for its coal and steel industry, Duprez says the aeronautical sector has always been strong in the region. “That is why Skywin was created: to consolidate the sector and create jobs,” he says.
© Béa Uhart
He points to Industry 4.0, the move towards automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies, and says that both Safran Aero Boosters and Skywin are embracing it. “We are strongly committed to Industry 4.0,” he says. “With the support of Skywin, we are promoting this spirit in Walloon SMEs so we can continue to rely on and supply a network of successful Walloon suppliers and deploy them in accordance with the principles of the extended supply chain.” • Safran Aero Boosters
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Putting Wallonia’s industry in focus
ers, and new lightweight materials have emerged in recent years. Even though metals are being used less in planes, Skywin has promoted new applications for aluminium (which accounts for 60% of the Airbus A380’s weight) and titanium. The research efforts look at improving their strength, temperature capability, and low-density forms; developing alloys like aluminium-lithium and mixtures with cadmium and magnesium; and developing bonding, welding and moulding methods. When it comes to other composite materials and processes, the research aims to improve strength and longevity, develop new materials to withstand higher temperatures, use new additives like green fibre, and develop processes like off-autoclave moulding. Etienne Pourbaix, a civil engineer from Louvain-La-Neuve, has been Skywin’s managing director since 2011. He highlights the emergence of Walloon SMEs in material science over recent years, with nine funded projects linked to composite ma-
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terials. “We help businesses to evolve from research projects to real applications,” he says. “I’m proud to see SMEs get involved in major European consortiums.” He also points to Skywin’s success in helping to build Wallonia’s space industry. “The space sector is quite scientific and institutional. We can help them develop a business mindset, about how to make money,” he says. “Space development has now changed completely.” But Skywin’s main achievement, Pourbaix says, is to nurture a high-tech industry, which is now flowering. “We showed that there was an aerospace research and development eco-system where people in the sector could share ideas,” he says. And it has led Skywin to the airfield where Charles Lindbergh landed in 1927 after his historic flight from New York to Paris. “We had very positive responses from Bourget,” Pourbaix says. “We have been able to prove that Wallonia is a player in the aerospace sector.”
Skywin has been a multiplier, helping to enhance Wallonia’s already innovative businesses reach further, according to space telescope manufacturer AMOS. AMOS, or Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems, is based at Liège Science Park and makes ground-based professional telescopes for astronomy, space instrumentation and optical components. “Skywin stimulates networking between AMOS and other Belgian players as well as space clusters from other countries,” says Xavier Verians, AMOS’s business development director. “It allows us to extend our network of contacts and business opportunities.” Verians says that although Wallonia has long been considered an industrial region, it is now teaming up with new companies at the forefront of aerospace technology. “The fact that people today do not associate Wallonia with cutting-edge technology means that we still have work to do to promote our skills and capabilities,” he says. But he says the situation is changing, thanks to Skywin and other regional initiatives. “Wallonia is quite active in promoting its skills. AWEX is very active in that respect, too. In some sectors, Belgium and Wallonia are already well known, including space. For example, we built the ESA’s PROBA-V satellite for global vegetation monitoring that recently provided images of the forest fires in Portugal.” amos.be
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Dinner is served Wallonia’s gastronomic chef movement hosts pioneering food festival at Namur citadel By Sarah Crew
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Forget the cliché about chefs and outrageous egos: the event deliberately placed artisans centre stage by honouring the special relationship between food suppliers and the chefs who put their products on the table. Generation W, the collective of gastronomic chefs, has been supporting this alliance since its launch in 2012 as part of a wide-scale promotion of the
region’s food and farm-to-table movement. Among the producers showcasing their wares were cheese and bread makers, fish breeders, a whisky distiller and a ceramic artist. Over the weekend, 22 of the region’s top chefs served up some of their tastiest signature dishes and took turns to impress the crowds with
© Jehanne Moll
n a three-day display of culinary daring, local chefs pinned Wallonia on the global gastronomy map with July’s W Food Festival. The food extravaganza delivered a triple mission: respect for Wallonia’s excellent produce, a tribute to usually anonymous food growers, and a celebration of Belgium’s favourite tipple: beer.
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© Jehanne Moll
.GASTRONOMY
live demonstrations. Food lovers ate, drank and learned in a warren of white tents in the bucolic and panoramic setting near Terra Nova, the former military barracks of the medieval fortress. The event was Generation W’s most ambitious to date. Targeting the public as well as professionals and future chefs for a congress on the final day, it invited a clutch of international chefs to show off their skills alongside local talents. The collective also laid on five-course feasts for evening galas. As well as sampling Wallonia’s finest fare, festival-goers had an opportunity to explore Terra Nova’s visitor centre and the citadel’s network of underground tunnels. Entertainment included concerts and workshops for children. For the first edition, the festival theme was beer, a nod to Unesco’s recent addition of Bel-
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gian beer to its world cultural heritage list and in honour of Wallonia’s long-standing brewing tradition. The region’s microbreweries were present, in particular guest artisan brewer Bertinchamps. The Gembloux family brewery made a limited-edition blonde beer for the festival and chefs created special dishes paired with beer. Led by two-Michelin-star chef Sang-Hoon Degeimbre and other bright stars in the culinary constellation, Generation W has been championing the region’s culinary and artisan talent in a series of national and international events. It has increased the number of member chefs from 10 to 22 in the past four years. “After Spain and the focus on technique, and the Nordic countries, which returned to the product, the next global trend will be human, and it will come from Belgium,” says Degeim-
bre. “And the personality cult that some chefs enjoy will extend to everyone getting food on to the table, including producers and the service, which is frequently overlooked. Another of the collective’s founding fathers, chef Jean-Luc Pigneur, says, “Our philosophy is that the chefs are really there to show off the producer, as we’ve perhaps forgotten that we are reliant on their produce.” He believes Generation W’s promotion of local products and a dynamic creative cuisine plays a special role in boosting tourism and the economy. “This is one reason why it makes sense to develop our activities and showcase them abroad,” he says. He thinks this is partly due to Wallonia’s occasional modesty. “In the mindset of Walloons, they need to be recognised abroad before they can be proud of themselves.” generationw.be
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HPLesuisse
Let the music play Sleepy, laid-back Spa becomes a cultural hotspot in summer By Bartosz Brzezinski
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pa is known for its pristine mineral springs and thermal baths, but that’s far from all it has to offer. During summer, the sleepy town undergoes a complete transformation. Don’t miss out on its offering of great music, critically acclaimed theatre and the most prestigious car racing in the world. From 20-23 July, Spa becomes a stage for the Francofolies, an annual festival dedicated to French-language music. Created in 1994, the event has quickly become one of the highlights of the Belgian summer, with the 24th edition expected to attract nearly 180,000 visitors. Open to all music styles, the line-up is full of big acts like Renaud, Michel Sardou and Saule, but there are also artists who are yet to make
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a break on the international stage, including the Old Jazzy Beat Mastazz. Behind the name are six local musicians who combine elements of hip-hop, jazz, funk, reggae and rock. A bit of The Police, a bit of Bob Marley, a bit of… well, everything. Less than a month later, francophone music gives way to francophone theatre. From 11-21 August, Festival de Théâtre de Spa hosts 26 plays across eight venues – with 55 performances in total. This 58th edition has something for everyone – from the whimsical and the musical to the serious and fun – on top of lectures, concerts and meetings with actors and directors. The absolute highlights include Ressacs, a play that uses miniature objects and figurines in place of actors, and La Solitude du
mammouth, a monologue that asks why humans have the need for vengeance. Throughout the year, the streets of Spa fill up with motorcyclists and sports car enthusiasts, who come from far and wide to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, 10km south of the city. On the last weekend of August, the race track hosts the Belgian Grand Prix, considered one of the most challenging legs of the Formula One World Championship. Retired German driver Nico Rosberg will not be returning to defend the title this year, but all eyes will be on his countryman and season favourite Sebastian Vettel, and arch rival Lewis Hamilton. spatourisme.be
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Lights, camera, action Charleroi’s newest cultural complex celebrates film, gaming and digital arts By Georgio Valentino
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rom the magic lantern to the praxinoscope to the modern multiplex, the moving image has come a long way over the centuries. In the digital age, cinematic storytelling has even gone interactive with a new generation of narratively sophisticated – and visually spectacular – video games. Charleroi’s newest cultural complex, Quai10, celebrates the motion picture in all its contemporary forms: cinema, gaming and digital arts. “The project was born from a need and an opportunity,” director Matthieu Bakolas says. “On one hand, nearly all of Charleroi’s cinemas have closed over the years. Only Ciné le Parc has survived. On the other, the city received European regional development (Feder) funds to rehabilitate the old Banque Nationale headquarters as a cultural venue. The city decided to address the need for quality cinema in the context of the Feder mandate while adding the related domains of gaming and digital arts.” The connection between these media isn’t obvious but it is crucial to understanding Quai10 and, Bakolas argues, contemporary culture. “Cinema defined the moving image in the twentieth century,” he says, “and gaming will no doubt define it in the twenty-first. They are the two biggest entertainment industries, but neither is strictly entertainment. They both open the door to participation, education and artistic creativity. By bringing them together under one programme, we’re going to show just how much they have in common.”
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Inaugurated this year, Quai10 encompasses Ciné le Parc, whose renovated 227-seat theatre is devoted to cinema, and Quai10 proper, the old bank building transformed into a complex of multipurpose spaces including four movie theatres, two exhibition spaces, a massive gaming room and a restaurant. Its grand opening weekend was everything the director and his team could have hoped for. “We were warmly welcomed,” Bakolas says, “especially by the public. With 40,000 cinema viewers and 3,000 gamers through our doors so far, we’ve beaten all projections. A community has formed around Quai10 and that’s a big accomplishment. The opening weekend was also a press event and an opportunity to network with other cultural institutions in the region. There’s still a lot of work to do, but we’re optimistic about our future.” Visitors can expect the same carefully curated programming that defined Charleroi’s last remaining cinema, but on a grander scale. “The cinema programme is in line with what Ciné le Parc has been screening for years,” Bakolas says, “which is to say quality films, mostly Belgian and European productions. All foreign films are presented in their original version. Since we have five fully equipped rooms at our disposal, we’re able to offer more and different films. Some will be more art-house and others more mainstream.” Quai10 takes the same art-meets-pop approach to gaming. Its bustling game room is open every day except Monday and en-
try is free.“ We present the video game as a cultural and artistic form,” says Bakolas. “Every month we curate a new selection of thirteen games. The emphasis is on independently produced games but we’re also dedicated to inclusivity, which means we’re not afraid to present commercial favourites that both novices and experts can enjoy.” It’s not just fun and games, either. Education is part of Quai10’s mission too. “Learning is the cornerstone of our project,” he says. “We organise many school activities in which both film and video games are used for educational ends. Games in particular are such versatile tools. Almost any subject can be illustrated – even experienced – through video games, from philosophy to history, from geometry to foreign languages.” All this is only the most recent episode in Charleroi’s ongoing renaissance. The industrial city has come full circle. Once a thriving hub of industry, it later became the poster child of de-industrialisation and its attendant woes. Now local, regional and European authorities are joining forces to revitalise the city. Quai10 couldn’t be better situated to participate in this revival. Its main digs, built in the 1960s and recently renovated by contemporary Brussels architect firm V+, are right in the heart of Charleroi’s urban redevelopment zone. With the arrival of the Rive Gauche shopping centre and initiatives like La Manufacture Urbaine, the surrounding Ville-Basse district has changed entirely.
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Thomas Beauduin
“We’re happy to be a part of the renaissance,” the director says. “The city has numerous cultural venues, of course. Some are long-established and some are brand new, but all are committed to reinvigorating the city’s artistic scene. Charleroi is back on the Belgian cultural map, thanks in part to these spaces.” quai10.be
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Double denim Façon Jacmin combines fashion-forward womenswear with a distinctly modern approach to marketing By Clodagh Kinsella
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n a fashion world as crowded as it is confused, young brands can struggle to set themselves apart – but that’s not a problem for Ségolène and Alexandra Jacmin, the enterprising twins behind Brussels label Façon Jacmin. Since launching their brand with a pop-up in in the Châtelain area in early 2016, the duo have made waves with their contemporary women’s wardrobe – almost wholly in denim – and canny sales tactics including a mobile boutique housed in a vintage van.
• Alexandra and Ségolène Jacmin
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“From the beginning our commercial strategy has been direct sales, so it’s e-shops, pop-ups and our mobile boutique,” explains Ségolène, the commercial brains of the outfit (Alexandra, a graduate of La Cambre in Brussels, takes care of design). In part this is to keep prices reasonable – jeans sell for around €140, jackets for around €250 – but it’s also about breaking down barriers. “Sometimes I get the impres-
We want to get back to the essential with our fabrics, and our contact with people Ségolène Jacmin
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sion that there’s little innovation in fashion,” says Ségolène. “Nobody dares to change, as they’re used to doing things as they’ve always been – selling in shops and at fairs.” The desire to do things differently was one of the key starting points for the brand, which was instigated by Ségolène, a civil engineering graduate who had developed an interest in fashion while refining designers’ business plans. Her sister, who had meanwhile done stints at Paris labels Maison Margiela and Jean-Paul Gaultier, took a year to come around to the idea of clubbing together – before presenting her sister with a fully formed vision for an all-denim brand. “She’s always been really attracted to denim because it’s worn by everybody, and it’s also one of the only fabrics that gets more beautiful with age,” explains Ségolène. While denim – and even double denim – is a fashion staple, it’s usually reserved for jeans and jackets; Façon Jacmin apply it to skirts, dresses, cropped trench coats and even natty reversible kimonos. And unlike the prevailing faded denim look, their chic garments come in white or intense indigo – the result of using premium Japanese denim, loved for its tight weave and use of natural indigo (rather than synthetic) dyes. Like an increasing number of other young brands, the label eschews the seasons for a more episodic offering. “If you go to our e-shop you have new arrivals and then timeless basics that are always there,” explains Ségolène (the jumpsuit and trench coat are bestsellers). “We don’t work with two annual collections, but
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• North Blue collection summer 2017
launch capsule collections three or four times a year.” Currently there are around 30 models, of which 15 are basics; production, which takes place at a Bulgarian factory used by haute couture French houses Chloë and Balmain, has jumped three-fold in just over a year. Since the early days the twins’ main canvas has been their mobile boutique – a chic retro number in a fetching shade of beige. Two Sundays a month it pulls up at Brussels’ Place Saint-Catherine, and two Saturdays a month opposite Antwerp’s MoMu fashion museum. Inside customers find a handsome space with a mirror and fitting room, as well as the whole stock in various sizes. “When we started the mobile boutique it was a marketing tool but I was surprised that it actually sold better than a shop,” says Ségolène. “People don’t need to open the door and dare to come inside. They see the clothes directly and speak to me directly, which is great.” It’s an old-school approach that chimes with the brand’s ethos, she adds. “Façonnier was
the word for a person who made clothes and also sold them directly to clients. We want to get back to the essential with our fabrics, and our contact with people. It’s great to be able to take the time, rather than just focusing on sales. Of course we would need to have a second van to grow, and our purpose is to be financially prudent, so it’s not the only channel. We also have the pop-ups and e-shop.” In addition to opening a showroom in Brussels in September, next up: take the van on tour and expand from their current markets – Brussels and Antwerp – to Alexandra’s home town, Paris, where they’ll launch their next capsule collection. “We’re quite careful in the way we want to develop, but on the other hand we want to go to Japan, and we’ve had interest from a distributor there,” reveals Ségolène. Their sales model will develop, but not too fast: “We really want to keep the quality, take our time to think about this and do it well.” faconjacmin.com
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UNDERWATER WORLD The Flood is a series of images of a woman lying on a couch, surrounded by plants, a piano, chandelier and hanging art. In some of them, the model – Brussels soul singer Typh Barrow – is talking on a telephone. What makes them surprising is that they were all shot underwater. Liège-based photographer Harry Fayt pulls on a wetsuit, straps on scuba gear and places his camera in a waterproof casing to create surrealist worlds that subvert images of women. From his first love, fashion photography, to shooting live concerts, to his subsequent career photographing babies and pregnant women underwater Charleroi-born Fayt has always been intrigued by the human form – in particular the female form. His work is frequently on show in galleries – an exhibition in Antwerp starts in September – as well as magazines around the world. In addition to sub-aquatic nudes, he continually experiments, be it photographing Belgian artists in The Flood, or reinterpreting mythological themes, from Renaissance paintings such as the Madonna and Raphaël’s Portrait of the Young Woman with Unicorn, in his series Modern Icons. harryfayt.com
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EVENT FLOWERTIME
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Flowertime was originally conceived as a sort of placeholder, a horticultural amuse bouche between biennial editions of Brussels’ older and more established Flower Carpet, but the event has become an attraction in its own right. Each edition turns the Grand Place and City Hall into a blooming garden with 10,000 flowers. The bulbs are provided by national cultivators and arranged by international floral designers. The theme of this edition is flowers and fruits. Expect double the colour and double the fragrance.
. 11-15 AUGUST, GRAND PLACE, BRUSSELS flowertime.be
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MUSIC ESPERANZAH!
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Marseille hip-hop outfit IAM make their sole Belgian appearance this year at the world music festival to celebrating the 20th anniversary of their cult album L’École du Mictro d’Argent as well as new album Rêvolution. The extensive line-up also includes multi-instrumentalist folk duo Pierce Brothers from Australia and American jazz grandee Gregory Porter. Set in a historic site overlooking the river Sambre, the three-day event moves to the rhythm of original music and a brighter and greener philosophy of life.
. 4-6 AUGUST, FLOREFFE ABBEY esperanzah.be
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Theatre, musicals, magic shows and comedy are set to entertain crowds at the beautiful castle grounds in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean. The best French-language productions from the past year are programmed at the annual festival, including Brussels parody Bossemans et Coppenolle, thriller Après le crime!, comedy Le Prénom, Gutenberg Le Musical, Quiche toujours by and with Zidani and Illusions by Jack Cooper. Take advantage of a pre-show buffet on the lakeside terrace.
GLOBAL SOUNDS Since 2002, Esperanzah! has been moving to the rhythm of world music and stirring the conscience of thousands of festival-goers. Founder and director Jean-Yves Laffineur shares his vision and explains the event’s vision. “The inspiration for Esperanzah was a concert by Manu Chao: I wanted to replicate his positive stage energy on stage in the setting of a festival. I thought of Floreffe Abbey as a venue because it’s such a magical place and has a great atmosphere. I had worked in the social sector so this was the source for the ethos of the festival’s progressive philosophy. At that time we didn’t talk about sustainable development, but more about political and social responsibility. We have always been concerned about informing youngsters about ethical questions, and this year we’re running the campaign Des Ponts Contre Leurs Murs (Bridges Against Their Walls), which tackles migration and closed centres, the fiftieth anniversary of the occupation of Palestine, and diversity. “The festival has evolved in its ecological character and social equality; when it was set up this was an area that no other event occupied. Naturally, the musical programme has progressed, becoming more modern while remaining faithful to its original musical style. Esperanzah is about discovering different and often unknown styles of music and artists. There are three stages, each with a different identity and ambiance: the best traditional sounds and rhythms from around the world; contemporary musicians from developing countries; headliners and festival favourites. “One of my favourites is the BCUC (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness, below) collective from a Soweto township in South Africa. The sextet produce a hallucinating sound which is a mix of rock, percussion, soul, rap, psychedelia and traditional harmonies. “The festival also runs parallel activities. Street theatre developed slowly but now has an important role, as does our mini documentary film festival and village for kids.” esperanzah.be
. UNTIL 27 SEPTEMBER
CHATEAU DU KARREVELD
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The annual outdoor theatre romp in the grounds of the ruins of Villers Abbey goes back to swashbuckling romantic adventure in this adaptation of Théophile Gautier’s novel. After the success of Cyrano de Bergerac and The Three Musketeers adaption Milady, Del Diffusion offers another 17th-century tale of intrigue and sword duels. The Cistercian abbey is a perfect backdrop. If this is your first time as a spectator for the promenade performance, don’t forget to wrap up warm.
. UNTIL 5 AUGUST
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"The inspiration for Esperanzah was a concert by Manu Chao"
BCUC ©Jeanne Abrahams
THEATRE LE CAPITAINE FRACASSE
VILLERS ABBEY
fracasse.be
SUMMER 2017
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