This Is Antwerp invited 12 internationals to Discover Antwerp Through Experience, in short to go on a D.A.T.E. with Antwerp from the 3rd until the 8th of November. We’ll show them the best hidden secrets, jaunt the hottest places, survive workshops together, enjoy the finest meals and much more. But most important they will meet that one important thing that fuels Antwerp to be the dynamic city that it is today: creative people.
We asked our locals to keep us upD.A.T.E.d (word plays, we know... but it's stronger then ourselves) of what our guest are doing to discover Antwerp. Yesterday we asked our local Vincent from fashion blog to join our internationals for a leather design workshop at Collectif d’Anvers.
The leather workshop at was my first D.A.T.E. with our international guest. And what an experience it was. Natalie Van Lijsebettens, the artisanal shoemaker who founded Collectif d’Anvers, invited us to design and create our own leather bag. The end results were as different from one another as the personalities of our international group. Clutches from minimalistic to fringed, wallets going from whimsical to deconstructivism, a purse including jewelry as a closure and my own: a reversible backpack.
We were very well assisted by Natalie Lijsbettens and her team. They guided us through the entire creative process and the possible challenges we might encounter. Sketching, pattern making, selecting, measuring and cutting the leather, adding closing magnets… you name it, we did it. Luckily the people of Collectif d’Anvers were so kind to stitch everything together.
I think it was a marvelous idea to get everybody out of their comfort zone and into the creative craft of leather. Now there will be a part of Antwerp design all around the world. Thank you Collectif d’Anvers!
Don’t worry, you don’t have to miss a thing. We asked our This Is Antwerp locals to cover most of the workshops for you. So keep an eye out for our blog or follow us on , or !
Text by Vincent Van Reusel - strutterview.com
Pics by Ariana Diaz - good2b.es & Vincent Van Reusel - strutterview.com