Belgian fashion designer Dries van Noten’s swan song in Paris is less of a sappy goodbye and more of a joyous celebration of his decades of designing wearable, experimental fashions Dries van Noten’s final show, staged in a factory on the outskirts of Paris, where his 50th show was held 20 years ago, comes three months after he announced that he will be stepping down from his eponymous label. The 69-look men’s spring-summer 2025 show was attended by some of his peers in the industry, including Ann Demeulemeester and Walter Van Beirendonck who, along with van Noten, comprised the Antwerp Six, a group of Royal Academy of Fine Arts graduates in Antwerp, Belgium who helped shape fashion as we know it today. The show is emblematic of the showmanship that has come to be known as a van Noten signature.
A silver foil runway unfolded as David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream” swole. Followers of the Belgian designer quickly caught on to this reference to his Fall 2006 show where models walked on a gold leaf runway. A post shared by Dries Van Noten (@driesvannoten) As this is his last collection—although the designer said he will still advise on design aspects of the house—people were expecting a sort of “greatest hits” show but as a designer who thrives on unpredictability and experimentation, of course, it was not at all the case.
Even in his last runway show, the designer is still taking risks, refusing to play it safe. “It was really the idea of taking risks and to s.
