Capital of Cool

When Belgian fashion first strutted onto the international catwalks in the early '80s, Antwerp took the creditand rightly so. It was graduates of that city's fashion schoolDries van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Walder van Beirendonck, Dirk van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs and Marina Yee, a.k.a. the Antwerp Sixwho were forging a distinctive deconstructionist style, a world away from Belgium's moules-frites-and-cherry-beer reputation. But today it's Brusselsand its Quartier Dansaertthat's la mode. At 74 Rue Antoine Dansaert is Stijlthe shop that began the revolution, tel: (32-2) 512 0313. Until 10 years ago, cheap rents and the store's not-so-cheap Flemish clothes were probably the only...

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