An unexpected exhibition

Like the boutique itself, the exhibition 40+ years of STIJL highlights the work of designers. The exhibition is not arranged in chronological order. It is structured around STIJL’s values. What exactly are these values? The designers, collaborators and customers that Aya Noël me to build the exhibition are the best People to explain. They each describe these values in their own way: originality, authenticity, soul,…

These values have been translated into the three main themes of the exhibition: pioneers, insiders and timelessness, referring to the characteristics of the designers as much as to STIJL itself.

To structure the tour, the curator has also considered the role of the boutique. This is what allowed the most avant-garde designs to find a place in everyone’s wardrobe. When STIJL first opened, Belgium was a hotbed of new artistic trends. The first avant-garde fashion designers were the Antwerp Six. Sonja discovered the work of Marina Yee. She persuaded the young designer to sell her prototypes to STIJL. Through her she met the other members of the “6”. From that moment onwards, her close relationship with designers, combined with her ruthless, instinctive selection process opened a window into the precise mechanisms of creation and production that make this fashion so unique.

Stijl in 10 dates

• 1984: STIJL opens its doors at 26 rue Antoine Dansaert, and Sonja Noël discovers Marina Yee’s work at the Canette d’or competition.
• 1985: In collaboration with Walter de Weerdt, STIJL opens a menswear store at 22 Rue Antoine Dansaert. Two years later it is followed by a lingerie store.
• 1995: Sonja Noël helps to set up Modo Bruxellae, an organisation dedicated to young, talented fashion designers in Brussels.
• 1996: Sonja Noël and Erik van der Post take over KAT, a multi-brand children’s clothing store located at 32 Rue Antoine Dansaert. The store is renamed KAT & muis. In 2017, Kaatje Sandra takes over KAT & muis and opens a store on the Place du Vieux Marché aux Grains.
• 2002: Sonja Noël and Erik van der Post open the very first European Martin Margiela boutique at 114 Rue de Flandres. Nine years later, Nicola Vercraeye takes over this store. In 2020, this is taken over by the Saint-Martin Bookshop.
• 2010: Sonja Noël and Erik van der Post open Haleluja on Place du Nouveau Marché aux Grains, a multi-brand designer boutique with a focus on sustainable collections. In 2014, Haleluja becomes STIJL men. The women’s and men’s clothing collections are separated.
• 2024: The sisters Fien and Tine Prophete take over Underwear.
• 2025: A retrospective exhibition entitled 40+ years of STIJL opens at the Fashion & Lace Museum.

Jules François Crahay

A key figure in the fashion sector during his lifetime, Jules François Crahay descended into oblivion after his death. The reasons include his discrete nature as well as the absence of a brand that would have kept his name alive. He left behind no archives after his death decades ago.

Jules François Crahay was born in Liège on 21 May 1917. From an early age, he was immersed in the world of couture. His mother had a workshop that offered “dresses and coats”. That world made a deep impression on him. In 1934, he moved to Paris to take courses in cutting at the Institut Mondial de Coupe. He spent two years there. When he returned to Liège, he worked for his mother’s company.

On 11 May 1940, he was taken prisoner and sent to a camp in Lower Saxony. He designed and made costumes for the camp’s theatrical troupe. He was liberated by the British on 8 May 1945 and returned home to Belgium. Twenty days later, his mother died at the age of 52. After that, he took over his mother’s fashion house and renamed it Jules Crahay.

In 1951, he moved to Paris to take over the Jane Régny fashion label. After presenting just two collections, the company went bankrupt. He then joined Nina Ricci as a designer. In 1959, he designed his first collection that was entirely haute couture. In 1963, he joined the Jeanne Lanvin company, replacing Antonio Castillo as designer. He would ultimately become the best paid couturier in Paris. Two years later, the Jeanne Lanvin fashion house reduced the size of its haute couture collection by half. Crahay also created the brand’s ready-to-wear line.

Over the course of his career, Jules François Crahay was awarded 3 Dès d’or. A record! He received the awards in 1977, 1981 and 1984, the year of his last haute-couture collection at Lanvin. Two years later, he designed the first collection in his ready-to-wear brand: Jules François Crahay. It was produced by the Japanese group Itokin. Two boutiques opened in Tokyo and Osaka.

Jules François Crahay died on 5 January 1988 in Monte-Carlo

The American dream

The exhibition also looks at Diane von Furstenberg’s phenomenal and unique career. As soon as she arrived in New York, she noticed the variety of the outfits worn by women there. These “crazy looks” fuelled her desire to introduce “the little dress” in America. The wrap dress quickly became a worldwide lifestyle.

The exhibition sheds light on:

• her strategy of personifying the garment in department stores in line with mindsets of the 1970s
• the development and diversification of her lines
• her approach to women and to clients. Diane von Furstenberg meets and listens to women wearing her creations all over the United States. This enables her to develop a true and lasting link. From Amy Winehouse to Michelle Obama, women everywhere love her wrap dress
• Finally, the exhibition looks at her philanthropy, allowing visitors to better understand her work and her commitment to women.

Would you like to visit the exhibition as a family, among friends or with a school group? Don’t hesitate any longer!

The museum offers you:

• a fun-filled experience for children from the age of 6, free of charge,
• guided tours for individual visitors,
• a range of formulas for groups.

Diane Von Furstenberg : Woman Before Fashion, the book

This work is a tribute to the creative vision and feminist philosophy of Diane Von Furstenberg and her eponymous brand. This book accompanies the exhibition organised in Diane von Furstenberg’s home city: Brussels.

Printed on three different types of luxury paper with a range of inserts, it is brimming with illustrations of superb graphic fabrics and
wrap dresses worn in particular by Diane herself and models such as Jerry Hall, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. Enhanced by archive documents and contemporary photographs, the work tells the story of the fashion designer’s career. Original articles cross-reference
the relationships between her creations and feminism, gender politics and entrepreneurship. Personal anecdotes
from colleagues including the model Cindy Crawford and the entrepreneur Stefani Greenfield add the finishing touch.

This unique, contemporary work is a reference in the fashion world.

Contributions : Diane von Furstenberg, Lydia Kamitisi, Karlie Kloss, Karen Van Godtsenhoven 
Publisher: Rizzoli Electa
Number of pages: 208
Price: €65
On sale at the museum

Brussels Touch. Free Spirit of Fashion

The first publication on the subject

While covering the themes of the exhibition, this publication extends the presentation but is not intended as a catalog. Richly illustrated, the book reflects the research conducted by the curator Lydia Kamitsis and brings together contributions of top-line actors about the position of Brussels on the national and international fashion scene.

Intended to endure beyond the period of the exhibition, it is conceived for international distribution.

Format: 224 pages
(trilingual edition French / English / Dutch)
Publisher: Lannoo
To order here

Masculinities: an unmissable exhibition in Brussels in 2021

The Brussels Fashion & Lace Museum invites you to come and admire the work of luminaries from the world of fashion: Beauduin-Masson, Brioni, Comme des Garçons, Craig Green, Dries Van Noten, Giorgio Armani, Hardy Amies, Hedi Slimane, Helmut Lang, Jean Paul Gaultier, Jean-Paul Knott, John Stephen, JW Anderson, Mosaert, Namacheko, Off- White, OWN, Raf Simons, Riccardo Tisci, Sami Tillouche, Undercover, Vêtements, Walter Van Beirendonck, Westwood & McLaren, Xavier Delcour, Y / Project and many more.