On November 30, almost 800 fashion professionals attended the 6th edition of Fashion Talks in the Antwerp Handelsbeurs. The biennial event for the fashion industry gathered 31 speakers to discuss topics such as new business models and sustainability in the fashion industry.

As in previous editions, the day ended with the Belgian Fashion Awards ceremony.

Meryll Rogge, a Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp graduate, worked with Marc Jacobs and Dries Van Noten before launching her own label, winning the Belgian Fashion Award in 2021. Stéphanie D'heygere, also from the Academy, designed for major fashion houses and founded her own accessories brand, winning the ANDAM Accessories Prize.

Eugene Rabkin is the editor and creative director of the fashion and culture media platform StyleZeitgeist.

Tom Eerebout, the stylist and fashion consultant from Belgium, has made a significant impact in the industry. Some of Eerebout's impressive clientele include Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Banks, Austin Butler, and Sylvie Kreusch.

Alexander Fury is the Fashion Features Director of AnOther magazine, and the Men's Critic of the Financial Times newspaper.

Dublin-born, London-based Sinéad O'Dwyer launched her eponymous label in 2018, focusing on size inclusion and body image. Her luxury collections challenge beauty standards with a custom approach to design, production, and presentation.

Aya Noël is a freelance fashion journalist based in Brussels. She is the print editor of 1 Granary, a London-based fashion and education platform.

Calum Knight is the creative director of SHOWstudio, specialising in digital and future-facing storytelling across fashion, art and culture.

Dominique Nzeyimana is a journalist, author, producer and broadcaster. With almost two decades of experience Nzeyimana has had the most boundary-pushing personalities in the world in front of her.

Hanna Grabenhofer, Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, is based in Vienna serving Apparel, Fashion and Luxury clients all over Europe and the Middle east.

Kathleen Martens is the hub leader for McKinsey’s Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail Practices in Belgium.

Together they presented an exclusive deep dive into the State of Fashion report, the yearly pivotal trend analysis by McKinsey & Company, and The Business of Fashion.

In this sustainability panel, experts Valérie Boiten, Lieve Vermeire, Charlotte Van Dierendonck and Muchaneta Ten Napel discuss not only sustainability but also policy, SME's, and how innovation can help fashion brands comply with new legislation.

Lena Sophie Röper is responsible for the entire Designer and Luxury proposition of Zalando, including buying, merchandising and content.

Ann Claes is co-founder of MASJIEN, the agency for fashion, sustainability and technology.

A carefully selected international jury, led by president Serge Carreira, Head of Emerging Brands Initiative at the Fédération de la Haute Couture in Paris, awarded eight prestigious awards.

The 2023 Belgian Fashion Awards winners were: Leslie Novignon (Most Promising Graduate of the Year); Igor Dieryck (Emerging Talent of the Year); Frederik Heyman (Professional of the Year); Laetitia Bica (Changemaker of the Year); Anthony Vaccarello (Designer of the Year); Orta (Brand of the Year); Sarah Levy (Accessory Designer of the Year) and Jan-Jan Van Essche (The Jury Prize).

The 5th edition of Fashion Talks took place in the Antwerp Handelsbeurs, the world's oldest stock exchange, and also where the Antwerp six presented their first collections.

Despite COVID, Fashion Talks still had the opportunity to bring together more than 600 fashion professionals for a stimulating MAIN STAGE and BREAKOUT programme. The conference hosted inspiring speakers such as Pieter Mulier, Jan-Jan Van Essche, Bertony Da Silva and Hannelore Knuts.

The day ended with the Belgian Fashion Awards ceremony.

Bertony Da Silva started in 2009 an experimental capsule T-shirt collection that unified different art forms into garments emerged as Arte Antwerp's first creation, shaping the distinctly hybridized vision from day one. Arte Antwerp matured into a cultivated creative house, proving its relevance by translating artistic and timely concepts into ready-to-wear collections.

For Fashion Talks Bertony went into conversation with Marie Guérin, the editor-in-chief of ELLE Belgium.

Fashion Talks hosted a debate on profit, doubt and what we leave behind.

The conversation between Jan-Jan Van Essche, Vanessa Bruno and Laura Larbalestier was moderated by Anja Aronowsky.

Clare Press is the journalist, author and filmmaker behind the sustainable fashion podcast Wardrobe Crisis, based on her book of the same name.

Clare also co-hosts the UN’s Ethical Fashion podcast with Simone Cipriani. Formerly, Clare was the first ever Vogue sustainability editor.

Shayli Harrison is an Antwerp Fashion Department alumna and the founder of Mutani, a digital fashion unitive that connects radical designers with their aesthetic equal in digital creation to produce digital fashion assets for wear in cyberspace.

Muchaneta Kapfunde is the founder and editor in chief of FashNerd.com, a digital news site that focuses on the merger of fashion with technology. Muchaneta is also a contributor at Vogue Business and a senior contributor at The Interline.

André Pelgrims is creator of TAKING WING, a company focused on coaching other businesses, leaders and teams.

André wants to give people wings, while power to teams and sustainable entrepreneurship are his main goals. André also wrote “Dansen naar vrijheid”.

On the Fashion Talks main stage, André Pelgrims talked about 'The road to courageous leadership'.

At the 4th edition of the Belgian Fashion Awards, Flanders DC, MAD Brussels, Wallonie-Bruxelles Design Mode (WBDM), and Knack Weekend/ Le Vif Weekend once again put Belgian fashion talents in the spotlight.

The 2021 Belgian Fashion Awards winners were: Lili Schreiber (Most Promising Graduate); Meryll Rogge (Emerging Talent of the Year); Benoît Bethume (Professional of the Year); Resortecs (Changemaker of the Year); Nicolas Di Felice (Designer of the Year); Imprevu (Fashion Brand of the Year) and Walter Van Beirendonck (Jury Prize).