Belgium's Fashion Fête

The Belgians are frustrating Laura Lusuardi. For the last 34 years it has been her job to find new talent to come and work at Max Mara, the successful Italian label known for mixing fashion with practicality. So far she has fared pretty well: Karl Lagerfeld did a stint in the early 1970s; so did Dolce & Gabbana 15 years later. Today the fashion director scouts the fashion schools because, she says, young designers are already too commercial to be interesting to her. The Flanders Fashion Institute in Antwerp is famous for turning out some of the most creative minds in...