Walter Van Beirendonck

Walter Van Beirendonck brought exuberant color and provocative wit to the Antwerp Six after graduating in 1981. Launching his collections in 1983 and later his iconic Wild and Lethal Trash line in 1993, he challenged conventional masculinity with latex, neoprene, saturated primaries, and cartoonish sci-fi motifs. His high-energy runway spectacles addressed politics, sex, and ecological crises long before such themes became mainstream. As director of the Antwerp fashion department from 2007 to 2022, Van Beirendonck also mentored successive generations of boundary-pushing designers.