Fashion and Accessories

The products of these designers can be obtained in the Van Eyck shop.

Jan Welvaert has been designing women's and men's clothes for thirty years. After graduating from the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, he developed a clothing line which has become a real cult label and can be purchased in his boutique in Ghent. His Ghent Altarpiece design? A sweater with floral motifs for men and women inspired by the abundance of plants on the painting.

Nathalie Engels has had her own clothing line since 1993. Her aim? Allowing people to experience colours in all their intensity.  She considers colours to be a universal language that are part of our existence. The intensity of the palette in the Ghent Altarpiece and the symbolism of colours are a major source of inspiration for her. Her Van Eyck product is a colourful dress with a matching woman’s jacket.

Ann Van Assche is the driving force behind Passinaif. She is well-known for her timeless and stylish women's clothing perfectly finished to size and made of exclusive, high-quality fabrics. Her unique Ghent Altarpiece design is a festive red dress in pure silk with drapes that is inspired by the red robes depicted on the Ghent Altarpiece.

Aravinda Rodenburg is one of the four bespoke tailors still active in Belgium. In his workshop, you can have a suit tailor-made to the highest standards. His Ghent Altarpiece design? A waistcoat made from a luxurious blend of cashmere and wool with massive silver buttons that refer to the painting’s opulence. The colour pays tribute to the natural, bright and mystical pigment made from lapis lazuli, which Van Eyck often used in his works of art.

The sisters Jonne (creative soul) and Manon (entrepreneurial brain) form the beating heart of Sikkema. Their tribute to Van Eyck is a bridal look based on an excerpt about the adoration of the lamb from the Book of Revelations which also ispired the altar piece. In the 15th century, a voluminous skirt with a tight-fitting body with long sleeves was 'very en vogue'. The chosen materials also refer to the divine lamb on the altar and the water of life from the fountain.

Studio AMA, that is ethical fashion made in social workshops. Soraya Wancour and her team create original sweaters, jackets and capes from textile scraps for men and women. For their Van Eyck product they designed two versions of a cape based on the beautiful robes depicted on the Ghent Altarpiece.

“Under thy skin” is Neri De Meester’s sustainable lingerie label. All fabrics used are made from end-of-stock, organic, ecological or recycled materials. The image of Eve holding an etrog in her hand, the forbidden fruit, inspired Neri De Meester’s embroidery on tulle stockings, T-shirts and bodysuits.

 Lucie Baseke Kaisala is a Ghent-based fashion designer with Congolese roots. She attaches great importance to sustainability and local production. Her brand is called Tamu, which means “sweet” in Swahili, and stands for unique items with exotic prints and vintage designs; this is also true for her Van Eyck tote bags and socks. Her Ghent Altarpiece prints have a unique Congolese touch.

Fien, Nina and Siel are the three women behind Just Hazel: fair, environmentally friendly and animal welfare-friendly clothes. Exclusively for the Van Eyck year, they had a Lamb of God embroidered on a white fair-trade T-shirt. This was done within the scope of the ASHA fair-trade project, which provides women from the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, with fair wages, food and support.

Negenduust is a fixture in the Ghent fashion scene. Their clothing is aimed at bringing people of all ages together and giving them an identity as proud Ghentians with a sense of humour. The T-shirts designed by Negenduust for the Van Eyck year have a clear Negenduust signature.

Sabine Van Acker has combined colour, geometric figures and texture to create woollen scarfs, handbags and interior. She is constantly looking for new combinations of materials, patterns and textures, always relying on her gut feeling. The plants depicted on the Ghent Altarpiece are the source of inspiration for her Van Eyck scarf and plaid made from natural materials such as merino wool and cotton.

Saar Swinters has created a summer scoodie, something between a scarf and a hoodie. Hand-painted patterns form the basis of her textile design. The source of inspiration is the divine light which occupies a central place in the Ghent Altarpiece: golden rays descending on the earthly creatures, the presence of aureoles and the glittering reflections on crowns and precious stones.

WOLVIS has stood for knitwear with a poetic touch since 2013. Nature and architecture have inspired architect Griet De Poorter to design unique scarfs. The abundant draping and unparalleled representation of textile in the painting, are the source of inspiration for the Van Eyck scarfs. The result is a mini collection of 4 scarfs with trompe l'oeil effect named after John the Baptist, the Prophet Micah, the Prophet Zachariah and John the Evangelist.

Key fobs have also been created for the Van Eyck year. They have been designed by Annabel Bruneel from the creative design studio Annabel Bruneel in partnership with Ingegno Maker Space, a workplace where inventors can make use of collective infrastructure. The choice of material for the key fobs, wood, refers to the artisanal tradition. The key fobs have been finished at a Ghent social workshop.

Zoë Vermeire crafts all kinds of luxury goods, ranging from shoes, clothes and accessories to sculptural objects. Conceiving and producing a design always takes place in a single movement. Exclusively for OMG! Van Eyck was here, PECTEN offers a dressing gown consisting of an abundance of fabric, similar to the robes worn by the figures in the Ghent Altarpiece.

Ria Dewilde launched her brand Sjapoo in 1991. As a sculptor, she is always looking for new and surprising shapes for her hats. Ria Dewilde creates a new collection of knit caps with matching scarfs every winter. All her creations are hand-crafted. The atmosphere of the Ghent Altarpiece has inspired her to create Van Eyck knit caps and scarfs. Her hats feature details from the Ghent Altarpiece.

Els Robberechts has been a well-known hatter in Ghent for 20 years.The starting point for her Van Eyck creations are the plants depicted in the Ghent Altarpiece, which she drew and incorporated into the design of the hats’ fabric. Each hat is unique as she uses a plant or flower design only once. In addition, she has also crafted a collection of corsages and tiaras.

Katrien is a milliner who creates wonderful hat, handbags and silk flowers. She developed her passion for headgear very early on in her grandmother’s and mother’s millinery shop. For the Van Eyck year, she has created four showpieces: two picture hats with ribbon inspired by the jewels on the Ghent Altarpiece, a tiara with a luxurious flower featuring the Lamb and a scarf with a matching hat featuring the dove and divine rays of light.

Pearl De Buck designs and hand-crafts leather handbags that testify to her perfect craftsmanship. For her Van Eyck creations, she has engraved 10 images and details from the Ghent Altarpiece in fine leather she fashions into a unique series of handbags.

Marlies Davans has crafted leather fashion articles for everyday use since 2010. She only uses vegetable-tanned leather from a Belgian tannery and saddle-stitches it; this age-old technique is a link to Van Eyck’s time. Her Ghent Altarpiece cardholder and key fob are printed with a beautifully stylised line drawing of a lamb by illustrator Sabien Clement. It is the wonderful result of a special collaboration between two artisans.

Ophélie Eliat from Noeud PAP’s produces original wooden bow. Each hand made bow tie is finished right down to the very last detail. She has cut sixty bow ties from a wooden panel with an imprint of the ‘Just Judges’ panel. Each Van Eyck bow tie shows a unique detail of the stolen panel. As the bow ties become scattered, the panel will probably never be displayed in its entirety again.