Dries van Noten had fashion passed down through the genes, having been born to a family of tailors. He is perhaps the most commercial member of cerebral Belgian design-clique "Antwerp Six" - the group of Royal Academy of Fine Arts graduates that showed together in the early 90s, and earned Belgium a reputation as a hothouse of outstanding design talent. Van Noten's fuses cross-cultural influences and the marriage of opposites, like layering of romantic prints and embroidery over rough, unfinished garments.

"I design for women who feel good about themselves. We must never forget, the person is more important than the clothes."