Though a member of the Belgian brigade and one of the hottest names in men's wear today, Simons did not graduate from Antwerp's famous fashion college; instead he studied industrial design and picked up his scissor skills from a local tailor. Simon's boyish mixture of punk influences and English school uniforms has made him a darling of the alternative fashion press. Since 2005, Simons has been designing modernist masterpieces for Jil Sander.

"As a youth style, punk was the strongest ever visually. There were no limits, no strict codes for being a punk. You could interpret it on your own personal level."