StyleZeitgeist Podcast

Our guest is the award-winning Dutch novelist Oscar van den Boogard, the author of The Six: The Untold Story of the Antwerp Six, an oral history of the origin of one of the most enduring myths of contemporary fashion. Through many hours of conversations with the six legendary Belgian designers, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkimbergs, Dirk Van Saene, and Marina Yee, as well as the contemporaries who helped The Six along the way.
Tracing biographical and personal arcs of the six designers from their childhoods to their entrance to the fashion department of the Royal Academy in Antwerp, to their fateful London debut and beyond, the book engages with each designer on a personal level, exploring their fruitful and fraught relationships that have shaped each of them and of their elusive contemporary, Martin Margiela.
The English version of the book will be out this fall, and is available for preorder now on all major book-selling platforms. 
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We are back with fashion journalist and critic Philippe Pourhashemi to review the Spring / Summer 2027 men’s season at Pitti Uomo in Florence, Milan Fashion Week(end), and Paris Fashion Week. We talk about why many big fashion houses are starting to look like Acne Studios, our most and least favorite shows, why Lemaire is an exemplary world builder, and conversely why there are so few designers left who built a coherent aesthetic universe. Also, find out why Philippe is starting to sound like Eugene (hint, it’s the Japanese brands, obviously), and why the fashion calendar needs a change.
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On this episode we host the American artist Banks Violette. While this is not an episode about fashion per se, Violette and StyleZeitgeist have much in common culturally. He has been working for over two decades at the intersection of fine art and youth culture, making compelling work that deals with the dark side of the American society and the counterculture it produces. We talk about growing up in Reagan's America, channeling teenage rage, the New York City of the early 2000s and Violette's – and his compatriots, that included Dash Snow and Dan Colen – problematic relationship with sudden fame, his retreat from the art scene and his return, a collaboration with Hedi Slimane at Dior Homme and Celine, and much more.
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This special episode of the StyleZeitgeist podcast was recorded live at MoMu, Fashion Museum Antwerp, as part of the opening weekend program for The Antwerp Six exhibition on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of their first collective showcase. 
Just like for many fashion enthusiasts, The Antwerp Six loom large in Eugene’s and Philippe’s imagination. On this sprawling episode they talk about how the Six have influenced their understanding of fashion, about their role in expanding the boundaries of the fashion system, their spirit of independence, innovation, but also pragmatism and professionalism, and the indelible imprint the group has left on fashion. 
Eugene and Philippe touch upon both the personal and the professional views on the work of the Six, the importance of fashion retail as a support system that has allowed the group to flourish, and the significance of forming a collective even if its members have distinct styles.
The Antwerp Six exhibition is on view at MoMu through January 17th, 2027. We encourage you to visit it.
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We are back with the fashion critic and writer Philippe Pourhashemi to review the Fall / Winter 2026 women’s season. Eugene and Philippe discuss Demna’s runway debut at Gucci, the sophomore outings of Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta, J.W. Anderson at Dior, Haider Ackermann at Tom Ford, Sarah Burton at Givenchy, and much more. We talk about the killer collection Daniel Lee presented at Burberry, and offer differing takes on Prada, as well.
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