Was this your very first collaboration with another company?
On this scale, I think so. I had worked with other people before, like a shoemaker, and someone who worked with metal, small things like that with a business. But this was the first time on this scale, and it was really nice. I think what’s so cool about Labels & Things like that is that they really open your horizon about what’s possible. It’s genuinely inspiring as a designer to come and look at all the sample books.

I spent a whole day going through all those amazing books. So much fun. I understand that a lot of people find it very overwhelming, because you have this idea of “okay, let’s make a label,” and then you see all the options and it’s like, “ah.” Actually, when we had to make the label, that was the most overwhelming part, because when you’re going for one specific thing and there are so many different options. In school I made some enamel pieces with them, more jewelry and hardware. But later, when we made the brand label, that was really overwhelming. In the end we went for something very classic, but beautifully made. That was cool.

How did you get started in fashion? Was it something that began in your childhood?
Yes, when I was twelve. It actually came from music. I loved different emo bands and was really a little emo kid, and I think that’s how I got into dressing up and style in general. At some point I remember realizing this is what I want to do. My parents put me in touch with a woman in my village who could sew, and she gave me some sewing lessons. Once a week I’d go to her and she taught me to make a hoodie, make trousers. That’s how it started.

How was your experience at the academy?
It was very tough, but amazing. I learned so much about myself and discovered who I am during that period. I arrived when I was 19. I think that’s exactly the age when you really form your identity, and I think I grew as a designer and as a person hand in hand — the more I got to know myself, the more I got to know my [design] language. It was an incredible, truly life changing experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. With all the hardships, and with everything that maybe could have been different or is different at the academy now, I’m really grateful for this experience. It was truly inspiring and it also made me strong. And it proved to me that I can do anything.

What was your path after graduating, did you always know you wanted to start your own brand?
No. It wasn’t really about starting a brand, more that during my time at the academy I organically discovered my own practice, quite autonomous. Not autonomous in the sense of doing it alone, but I found my place as a director. I also discovered my interest in cinema and performance art, and my approach to fashion, which was already very specific at school. Then in the master’s I really allowed myself to do exactly what I wanted, very theatrical, very narrative with clothing, not very wearable. When we finished the collection I looked back at it and thought, “I don’t really think I can apply for a job at a fashion house with this.” And then I saw the kind of life my colleagues in Paris were living when they were just starting out in the industry, and I realized that wasn’t exactly what I had studied for or what I wanted to do. So I realized I wanted to develop my own practice in some way, this was also partly why I stayed in Antwerp.

How does your design process begin?
Always with images and films. I’m always collecting images, it’s a constant search for visual material, but not only visual, it can come in other forms too. But it eventually crystallizes into an image, and I do this very intuitively. Usually when I see something that catches my eye, I photograph it or save it in my folders. And every now and then I go back through this material I’ve collected, and I usually realize there’s a common thread running through everything, a feeling that holds it together. And then that develops into the concept of the collection. Meditation is also a big part of my creative process, I meditate a lot on these images, and a lot of connections come up through that. And then I can show you, I make these kinds of books that I call visual poems. It’s always something like two images next to each other, in a certain order, and that tells, in a certain way, the story or the intention behind the collection. This idea comes before we really start developing it, and then it grows into a collection.

Where do your images come from?
They come from everywhere. None of the images are photographs I took myself. I mainly work with found photography, images that resonate with me because they are connected to cultural heritage, human history, and traditions from different communities. I’m fascinated by the way customs, rituals, and visual languages are passed down through generations, constantly evolving while carrying traces of the past.

Do you make these books for every collection? Is it one book, or several?
Usually it’s one, as a starting point, and then of course we eventually make the collection book. They start scattered on a board, and then eventually come together in this little booklet. It’s nice to have.

Is every book different? Do you see a common thread?
Of course you see a common thread, some images repeat. Actually I don’t think anything really comes back from previous collections in this one, but in the previous three books I made, there were images that kept coming back again and again, because in some way they’re still inspiring and still an important part of my search.

How do you think your background has shaped the way you create?
Definitely. I grew up in a place where many different religions come together and live side by side, so my cultural landscape is very diverse. The fact that all of this coexisted in some way really left something in me. I also grew up with a lot of objects from the East in my house, because my father traveled a lot, and I think this also became an important addition and fascination with objects, objects that carry meaning in a certain way.

Which emotions drive your creativity the most?
A longing for beauty, I think. I think it’s always about beauty and pain, how they go hand in hand and how they’re an inevitable part of the human condition.