“Fashion Right Now Is About Looking Like Everyone Else, and It Sucks,” But Brandon Wen, Freshly Appointed at Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts Is Out to Change That

Tell me about the fashion inspirations of your childhood. How did the creative spark flare for you?

After I watched Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace, I became obsessed with Queen Amidala [played by Natalie Portman]. There was a cupboard where my mum kept all the winter blankets. I would pull them out and drape them on myself. I was also obsessed with the skirt of the Christmas tree. I would put these things on, prance around and it’s funny because I feel like it’s what I am still doing [laughs]. Around 7th grade, I did a book report on Yves Saint Laurent. I ended up sewing a dress as part of this project, then I watched Project Runway and loved the energy of that, and eventually my mom bought me a sewing machine. The same teacher I did the book report for was in charge of a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and I became costume designer. I was making all these fairy skirts, I was gluing vines to leggings, and it was a huge confidence boost.

What is your vision for Antwerp fashion at the Academy?

Finding the balance between the traditional things that the school is about and what’s new. There needs to be more communication and open-mindedness. I want to hire more international people and work on the school’s reputation outside of Antwerp—I think it has rested on its laurels for a while in this regard. What we do is creativity and that is the most important thing in our curriculum, but it’s important to be aware of what else is happening in the wider industry and the hope is to bring in—and we started a bit of this this year—external motivating people for lectures and workshops. The formatting of the courses can be dry. I learned so, so much after school when I was with Michèle [Lamy] and meeting people. I learned that you don’t have to be this or that, or even a designer, but it helps to see other ways to run things!

How have you observed the students this year? What are they talking about?

They’re afraid of creating fashion that doesn’t look like ‘fashion’ should, whatever that even means! They have so many good ideas, but it’s interesting that they want to push themselves creatively but sometimes in practise, through the process, they pull it back and then they hide, and then they make it less bold. This is for us as a school a work in progress. But encouragingly, they’re all looking for more intelligent critical points of view, particularly with social media and all the noise. But look, it’s Antwerp, in the end it will be bold, it’s kind of out of control here! [laughs]. And it’s my job and the school’s job to be demanding, but of cause also to support them.