The DNA of Tim Van Steenbergen
Some of the world’s most illustrious fashion designers studied fashion at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp: Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester and Raf Simons just to name a few. According to leading fashion designer Tim Van Steenbergen, who also studied at the Academy, the focus is on the artistry, with students trained to think creatively. “Students are given the opportunity to express their specific DNA. We are also trained alongside sculptors and painters, which brings out that artistry,” says Van Steenbergen, who worked alongside Olivier Theyskens from 2000, just 14 days after graduation.
After 23 collections, with his designs sold around the globe, Van Steenbergen works across several artistic fields, including designing for the opera, couture, ready-to-wear, lighting, fabrics and interiors. “My ‘DNA’ that I discovered at the Academy was strongly linked to technology and developing techniques that have been integral to my collections, irrespective of the field, since I began,” says Van Steenbergen. “My techniques are the basis for my whole story,” he adds.
Eschewing trends, but highly aware of commercial realities, Van Steenbergen’s DNA continues to excite buyers and the consumer. “I learnt from Olivier to stick firmly to your beliefs and have your own identity. In this business, you need to be stubborn.”
In 2001, after just a year of working with Theyskens, Van Steenbergen launched his first collection in Paris. And rather than just present gowns, Van Steenbergen took on the whole design gamut creating haute couture, prêt-a-porter and even shoes and accessories. “From the start, it was establishing an overall picture that was completely new at that time,” says Van Steenbergen, who recalls the criticism from others in the industry for taking on such a broad and heavy mantle. “Today, designers work in a much more disciplinary way. Maybe it was my naivety. I was only 22 years old at the time,” he adds.
As Van Steenbergen works across so many design disciplines, including theatre and ballet, finding one source of inspiration is rare. “My clothing collections often flow into my work for theatre and vice versa. There’s always two-way traffic from all the various disciplines.”
However, irrespective of which design area is the focus at any one time, the design process starts with a mood board, finding the right atmosphere and feeling. “The feeling has to be right and it should fit with the spirit of the age,” says Van Steenbergen, who translates these feelings quickly into sketches and almost simultaneously into drapery. The latter has become the designer’s hallmark. “At the early stage of a collection, volume is critical. Then comes the materials and fabrics, occurring at the same time,” he says.
With his hands-on approach, rather than simply gesturing ideas to assistants, Van Steenbergen carefully adjusts each prototype with scissors and needles, referring to this process as ‘copy and paste’. When the collection finally arrives at the showroom, Van Steenbergen’s stylist searches for pieces that may be missing. Since 2001, when Van Steenbergen made his presence felt in Europe, there has always been a sense of couture in every prêt-a-porter collection. “The constructions of the jackets and dresses are extremely important as they always reference the haute couture. The extremely feminine corset feeling harks back to Framed, my first collection,” says Van Steenbergen.
Given Van Steenbergen’s clothes for the opera, such as Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle, it’s not surprising that his draping technique forms an important hallmark of his designs. But there is a difference between clothes for the stage and the street. “The theatre costumes are established in a different manner. It’s a much more traditional approach. In theatre, we finish with the drapery and the colour. Theatre costumes are not real products, like fashion. They’re an impression to support the music or a dialogue in a story. It doesn’t matter that such outfits don’t come with washing instructions.”
As from the outset of his career, when Van Steenbergen embraced a holistic look, he continues to be interested in working in a ‘horizontal and multi-disciplinary’ way. “Within the various disciplines, you need to be surrounded with the right people to achieve the right outcome,” says Van Steenbergen, who enjoys the different dialogues with creative people from a broad range of disciplines. “It would depress me to stick with one discipline because then you’re also stuck to all the rules of that discipline. If you work in a more multi-disciplinary way, you can then colour outside the lines.”
Van Steenbergen will continue to venture ‘outside the lines’, while still remaining faithful to his own DNA. “It’s about creating your own signature which people keep coming back for. If you start to slavishly follow trends, that appeal disappears,” says Van Steenbergen, who embraces all facets of design and the creative fields he works in. For an upcoming opera, it’s not only the costumes on his radar. The lights, scenery and music also filter into his world. Even Belgium’s most renowned spectacle designer theo, benefits from Van Steenbergen’s collaboration. “My work is a continuous flow. One project initiates another.”
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