Fashion+Art Event St Petersburg: Ahlers Forwarding made it happen for 5 Belgian designers! /10 Nov 2008/

The Fashion+Art event was a unique occasion where fashion and the most important modern arts, such as cinema, music and dance met.
The first event of the Fashion+Art series combined the art of the masters of Belgian fashion with contemporary dances and classic Russian ballet. This relation is not accidental, for it unifies two different cultures in their best display. Today graduates of Belgian design schools and academies conquer the world podiums and create masterpieces for the fashion world. In its turn, Russian ballet is famous for a number of centuries. The exhibition of photographs by Yury Smekalov, which is also devoted to ballet, was presented at the event.

The event was offered by the Province of Antwerp at the occasion of a trade mission for the construction and logistic sector to Saint-Petersburg (4-7 November), organised by Flanders Investment and Trade and is situated within the frame of the cooperation agreement between the Province of Antwerp and the Leningrad oblast.

Fashion+Art Antwerp Moment is organized by the Saint Petersburg company L’Entourage and the Latvian company thrown.com.lv on initiative of Mrs Cathy Berx, Governor of the Province of Antwerp and Mrs Edith Vervliet, General Manager of the Flanders Fashion Institute. The event was supported by the Belgian Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, Ahlers Forwarding (Belgium), Dredging International (Belgium) and Galerie Quarante-Six (Saint Petersburg).

Ahlers Forwarding organised the physical flow of the collections, starting at the pick-up points from the different designers. The most challenging in the process was the customs clearance. In close coordination with the Flanders Fashion Institute and both Belgian and Russian Ahlers Forwarding teams the collections arrived just in time for what was to become a successful Fashion+Art event. Also the reverse logistic flow was trusted into the hands of Ahlers Forwarding.

Five Belgian fashion houses took part in the show. Veronique Branquinho (women’s collection), Tim van Steenbergen (men’s and women’s collections), Christian Wijnants (women’s collection), Ellen Verbeek (footwear and accessories) and Nico Taeymans (jewellery collection). In spite of their youthfullness, Tim van Steenbergen and Veronique Branquinho already have conquered the podium of Paris and received a number of prestigious international awards. Also Christian Wijnants keeps up with them.

Designers Christian Wijnants and Ellen Verbeek, as well as Mrs Edith Vervliet, the general manager and ideological leader of Flanders Fashion Institute were present at the event.

For more information:

• Ellen Theeuwes, Business Development Manager, ellen.theeuwes(at)ahlers.com
• www.timvansteenbergen.com
• www.christianwijnants.com
• www.nicotaeymans.com
• www.ellenverbeek.com
• www.veroniquebranquinho.com