ANNEMIE VERBEKE

BRAND AND FASHION DESIGNER ,   V

ANNEMIE VERBEKE, BELGIAN DESIGNER OF REFINEMENT

Annemie Verbeke is a Belgian fashion designer from Ypres. She is the sister of the former lawyer and director Louis Verbeke; she studied at the Sint-Lukas art college in Brussels and graphic art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Ghent. After an industrial knitwear course in Switzerland, she made her first steps in fashion at the end of the 70s, also as a designer for knitwear manufacturers.

Annemie Verbeke

VERBEKE AND THE “6 OF ANTWERP”

She gained respect as a designer with her shop and invariably refined collections with great attention to the materials used. Thanks to this she achieved a great number of loyal customers. But she has never been able, as the “Six of Antwerp” (including Dries Van Noten), to reach a global breakthrough.

“Unlike the Six I had no one to compare myself to. I could only try to overcome myself”

Verbeke fashion show

In 1987 Annemie Verbeke created her own collection of very simple and classic knitted garments, but with whimsical and original details. She then became the advisor of the Association professionelle des producteurs belges de tricots, for which she designs trends.

But in 1989 she was forced to close the brand and worked for ten years for brands like Natan, Chamail and Manoukian. Around 1998, her entrepreneurial spirit was awakened again and she started over with her own brand.

Verbeke 2018

THE FINAL CLOSURE

After designing and selling forty collections, two collections each for twenty years, in 2019 Verbeke believed that it was time to end the business. The Belgian designer decides to stop her activity as a designer and close her shop in Brussels.

Verbeke wanted to focus only on creativity and only worked on occasional projects, possibly including pop-up stores. She also wants to organize workshops to pass on her knowledge to the younger generations. Fans have to make the most of stock sales.

The store closure is a new drain on the Dansaert neighborhood, where independent fashion boutiques are being ripped off by major international players. Verbeke points out the high wage costs in the country, which makes it impossible for starting designers to hire a shop salesman, even part time.

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