Fashion is defined by change. From early couturiers who dictated the season’s silhouette through to today's spinning carousel of creative directors, this industry has been defined by its rapid pace. In the face of such movement, obstinate designers who insist upon a uniform creative vision offer a refreshing change of pace from the frenetic dynamism of the industry at large. Such is the case for Jan-Jan Van Essche, who is the subject of a retrospective exhibition at MoMu that is currently on display.Jan-Jan Van Essche graduated from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 2003, waiting until 2010 to launch his eponymous label. The brand is based out of Atelier Solarshop, which he runs with his partner Pietro Celestina. Since then, Jan-Jan has been developing a distinctive design language rooted in geometric pattern-making, traditional fabrics, and natural dyes. Jan-Jan’s consistency of voice, with a quiet insistence on his core concepts, has enabled him to co-curate an exhibition at MoMu which is almost contradictory: a retrospective exhibition presented through a current collection.
Spring/Summer 2025’s collection is entitled “Khayal,” named after an improvisational Indian music style. Like most of Jan-Jan’s collections, it contains all of the key aspects from the design vocabulary he has developed over the past 15 years. The collection is dynamic and genderless, with voluminous silhouettes that offer unrestricted movement, rich tactility, and ease: true luxury. Displaying Jan-Jan’s clothes in static form does not do them justice; his garments have a fluidity that must be felt as much as seen. To remedy this, custom mannequins were produced by Rune Tuerlinckx out of reclaimed wood, positioned askew to provide a suggestion of movement that animates the clothes. The “models” stand atop a film of golden yellow sand, contrasting the muted tones of the clothes. The 10 looks that compose the exhibition are broken down into 5 focal points, beginning with a focus on silhouette, and the role of layering in constructing the volumes that make Jan-Jan’s shapes so distinctive. It proceeds into a segment on the brand’s focus on hand-weaving, done in through two collaborations. The first is with Senegalese artist Lamine Diouf, who also wove the curtains through which the mannequins are viewed, and the second with Rituraj Dewan’s company 7Weaves, which works with indigenous weavers in the forests of Northeast India. The subsequent section focuses on Jan-Jan’s pattern-making, with key shapes presented alongside a deconstructed pair of garment-dyed denim pants that was previously used for an exhibition at Tokyo’s Lift. The final two sections focus on Jan-Jan’s obsession with natural dyeing processes and knitwear production.Jan-Jan Van Essche has spent 15 years cultivating a language of expression rooted in consistent principles – a consistency which rewards Jan-Jan with the capacity for this novel form of retrospection. His body of work reminds us of the importance of commitment, self-assuredness, and conviction in one’s own perspective.Khayal is on display at MoMu until June 8, 2025.
