Dries Van Noten's final show, the end of a Belle Epoch in fashion

Dries Van Noten held its final show on Saturday, bringing down the curtain on a beautiful Belgian Belle Epoch in fashion.

As proof of Dries' importance, there was a virtual gridlock of designers at his pre-show cocktail party: Diane Von Furstenberg, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Alexandre Mattiussi, Kris Van Assche and Thom Browne. And even two of the original members of the Antwerp Six, Ann Demeulemeester and Walter Van Beirendonck, with whom Van Noten burst onto the international fashion scene in the late 1980s.

A huge central block displayed videos of his best shows, including Van Noten's legendary dinner show in 2005, where 300 guests enjoyed a three-course meal, before the cast proceeded to parade across the tablecloth to a table of 100. meters long. A show presented in the same place as this finale, a huge old factory in the La Courneuve neighborhood, north of Paris.

Images dating back to his early days in Paris, like the beautiful 1994 show at Passage Brady, an arcade packed with Indian restaurants, ideal for a designer known for his beautiful ethnic prints and Mumbai embroidery.

But instead of big hits, Van Noten went further with a whole new series of metallic iridescent fabrics in this show.

Van Noten also called on his best catwalkers: like his Belgian compatriot Alain Gossuin, who opened the show with an impeccably tailored black coat paired with. Followed by Stefano Tartini, gray-bearded but still slim and handsome, and John Armstrong, cool in a dandy spy cooper's coat.

Among the ladies were Karen Elson in what could have been a lover's jacket she borrowed for the show and Hannelore Knuts in a great one. White men's court tuxedo.

Presented with an impeccable staging on a catwalk made of silver leaf, illuminating the cast from both above and below. To better illuminate the mix of floral prints and metallic fabrics that was the heart of this collection.

“It was meant to be a celebration and I think it was a celebration,” Dries said to a packed backstage.

A mainly men's collection where the women seemed to be wearing boyfriend clothes.

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“I didn't want a retrospective or a best-off, but rather to show new materials, to move forward. Playing and breaking the codes. So I ended up with gold looks, since I thought the fabrics were spectacular. Now I am very happy and I am going to Italy for a week,” added the 66-year-old designer.

The show marked the 130th gorge in Van Noten's extraordinary career, which began in Antwerp. The son of a textile family, Van Noten would study at the Royal Academy of Antwerp before launching his own exclusive collection in 1986. He immediately gained a following for his unique combination of modern tailoring, street cred, ethnic embroidery and rich fabrics.

In fashion, as in football, Belgium has always exceeded its expectations. And its greatest champion and defining designer has been Dries. Whose beautiful clothes and clever staging (lots of retro classic cars, abandoned garages, Paris city hall or cavernous basements) made his shows unmissable events. There was even a half-decade period where he was one of the top three designers in the world.

Like many Belgians, Dries could be curmudgeonly and never tolerated fools kindly. But he was always an extremely generous host, and he was again tonight with the excellent wine and food served at his farewell.

In 2018 he sold control of his business to the Puig family, the Catalan clan that already owned runway brands such as Jean-Paul Gaultier, Carolina Herrera, Nina Ricci and Rabanne. His departure leaves Puig's will with an extremely difficult question when it comes to choosing a successor. Replacing a designer with as distinctive an aesthetic as Dries won't be a walk in the park. Which leads to speculation that management could opt for an internal solution.

But for the moment one is left with a bittersweet taste: a unique career ended when he was apparently still in his prime. Karl Lagerfeld worked in the hospital two days before he died, and Armani will present his next haute couture collection this Tuesday, at the age of 89. But Dries will retire quietly, overseeing the house's fledgling perfume business; tending his garden in Belgium or swimming at his beachfront property south of Naples.

There are much worse sunsets.