Dries Van Noten collaborates with Stüssy

It’s the time of year when puffer jackets are brought out, chunky colourful scarfs are popping up everywhere on Oxford Road, and another big collab has dropped! This time, Dries Van Noten has collaborated with the Southern Californian brand Stüssy with a collection that is available now.

Hints were dropped earlier this month when rapper A$AP Nast unveiled a haul of items on Instagram gifted to him thanking both Stüssy and Dries Van Noten. However, the collab was officially announced on November 6 by Stüssy and Dries Van Noten on their respective Instagram accounts. Campaigns showed photos and videos starring Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers modelling their clothes, exciting fans globally.

Highsnobiety described the collab as two brands having “found love in a hopeless place,” as they merge “Stüssy’s iconic graphics with Dries’ love of all things flora and fauna.” Highsnobiety have also taken partial responsibility for the collaboration as they said that their creative division put the two brands in touch last year.

The collection features pretty standard garments like denim jackets, graphic t-shirts, shorts, and jeans but with an epic streetwear feel. With bold colour, tie-dye, and emblazoned with flames, peace symbols, and eight balls the collaboration is sure to stand out.

Whilst Stüssy is no stranger to collabs, having previously teamed up with brands like Dior and Nike to Birkenstock and Converse, Dries Van Noten, on the other hand, rarely works with other designers – the exception being with Christian Lacroix in 2020 for a Spring/Summer collection.

Having started as part of the Antwerp Six in the 1980s, Dries Van Noten’s brand has grown massively since with The New York Times already describing him as “one of fashion’s most cerebral designers” in 2005. In more recent years, he has dressed stars such as Cate Blanchett and Maggie Gyllenhaal, continued to impress with collections, and had one of his suits worn by Villanelle in Killing Eve.

The Antwerp Six was a group of fashion designers who graduated from the eponymous Royal Academy of Fine Arts at the beginning of the 1980s. They were classed together due to their “origin and common experiences rather than style,” as people struggled to pronounce their names, they started calling them the Antwerp Six. As Dazed Digital wrote, “It’s fashion folklore – how in 1986, a gang of Belgian designers bundled into a van, headed across Europe and caused a stir at a London tradeshow, making their mark indelibly on the decades of fashion to come.”

So where are the others now? Well, Ann Demeulemeester ran her own brand known for its grunge themes until 2013 although she still oversees special projects. Dirk Van Saene incorporated his love of painting with fashion design to create his own collections, and he also teaches at the college from where he graduated. Walter Van Beirendonck is head of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts and has styled celebrities including Bono. Dirk Bikkembergs was well-known in the fashion world before he joined the Antwerp Six and has since drawn inspiration from athleticism for his label which he sold in 2012. Finally, Marina Yee still designs for her brand which focuses on sustainability and repurposing flea market finds.

After their pop group-esque split up in the 1990s, each member of the Antwerp Six appears to be doing well in their solo careers! Dries Van Noten, however, arguably remains the most famous out of the six and I have no doubt that the collab with Stüssy will only bring him further success.