It was no coincidence that EMERGE's recent trip to Antwerp coincided with Vitrine 2006. Invited to DJ at MoMuLateNite, an evening of DJs and drinks provided by Cointreau's Be Cointreauversial photography exhibition, EMERGE got to be a small part of a really cool annual tradition intending "to put fashion and its many aspects into a different context, thus encouraging a rewarding interaction between fashion and the city surroundings."


While the Mode Museum is an understandable inclusion in any event centering on fashion in Antwerp, the real action in Vitrine takes place out in the streets, where the windows of 95 shops across the city are given over to showcasing works by established designers, fashion students and artists. This year includes contributions ranging from "Andy Warhol: Heroes and Icons" by Josephus Melchior Thimister to "A Magazine #4: Undercover by Jun Takahashi" at the BOX 46 shop, and the "Designers Against AIDS" group show at the skatewear emporium Fish & Chips.

Also included in the program for the first time was a window given over to displaying content from three of the top fashion blogs: A Shaded View, Face Hunter, and The Sartorialist. The window was at Gusto, which happens to have been the first place in Antwerp with free wi-fi.

Other related events tied into Vitrine 2006 included:
"You Wear It Well": a collection of rare films made by some of fashion's most esteemed creatives, including Martin Margiela, Jeremy Scott, Nick Knight/Alexander McQueen, Noki and many more.

An exhibition of photgraphy from 1996-2006 by Marc Lagrange at the Foto Musuem

A very uneven gallery show of 20 up-and-coming artists at the hip '85 Gallery, which was open well past it's 10pm closing night last Friday due to hordes of casually dressed, heavily inebriated hipsters spilling in from the jam packed Cafe SOS next door.

All in all Vitrine seems to have brought to life all aspects of fashion, from the elegant and historical to the sloppy, spontaneous and iconoclastic. Best of all, it was done in a fashion far more accessible to the general public than exclusive events like Fashion Week. To take part you needed only walk down the street.

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