Dear ChangeFashion,

RA in Antwerp is celebrating its 1st anniversary today!

As a platform for events RA is continually pulsing with energy, whether it’s the daily life of the boutique, the kitchen or the special events hosted in the gallery space. Always formulating new ways to use the space.

Here is a selection of my favourite events at RA since last year, in non-chronological order:

RA EXHIBITION S/S11

Returning to the Marais in Paris (but in a new space) the RA S/S11 exhibition during womens fashion week in Paris was a wonderland of creative installations and artistic expressions by international guest collaborators. A new partnership with the Beaux Arts’ Academy in Paris allowed wonderful new artists to join the space alongside several loyal names who exhibited for FW10. Participations from Narelle Doré, Paula Selby Avellaneda, Daniel Andresen, Kia Utzon, Romain Brau, Dimitri Afanko, Elise gettliffe, Hide A.H., Lliure Briz, Irene Alvarez, Sayaka Yamamoto, Pierre-Antoine Vettorello + Marie Le Traon, Hicham Berrada & Sophie Gaucher.

LENA LUMELSKY + FRANçOIS GLORIEUX

Accompanied by the musical stylings of the renowned Belgian pianist François Glorieux, designer Lena Lumelsky produced a choreographed mime act under UV-lights, entrancing the audience as the main dancer was slowly dressed by an army of near-invisible helpers.

SUNSET VINTAGE RECEPTION

RA and Labels Inc. hosted an exclusive collaboration fro FW2010 with a selection of vintage fashion for sale, curated by Labels Inc.’s Erna Vandekerckhove at RA. Extending the RA vintage corner, Erna presented pieces from her own private collection, the archives of Houben and Francis, including pieces from the early 20th century as well as designers such as Yohji Yamamoto, Balenciaga, Junya Watanabe, Chanel, Claude Montana. The sunset champagne shopping preview was a jovial affair, with guests enjoying champagne from Piper Heidsieck and kinky fashion cakes featuring Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour (seen like never before!).

SHOW2010 WEEK

Australian/Belgian fashion photographer Sonny Vandevelde exhibited a series of his backstage shots from SHOW2009. Featuring the collections of Emilie Pirlot, Juan Hernandez Daels, Irina Shaposhnikova, Elise Gettliffe, Alexandra Verschueren, Lea Dickley and Stephanie Bösl. Alongside the photographs, five graduates offered a solhouette for an exhibition. On the second night of SHOW2010, Sonny and RA hosted the BACKSTAGE party, with DJ Darko and RA DJ’s.

RA ONLINE STORE

A wide selection from over fifty international designers complemented with a selection of books, music and gadgets, worldwide delivery!

18+

Valentine’s eve with Andrea Cammarosano, Petrus Heeren, Spaghetti GangBang + L.I.A in a steamy music/performance/art/party. Spaghetti GangBang broadcast over the internet from inside their pink furry phallus, mixing erotic fruit juices for their voyeuristic onlookers in RA & accross the web. Andrea Cammarosano offered his ‘services’ for the night, with a veritable smorgasbord of cut+paste ‘andrea aliases’ from all over the map, for paying customers to take home and enjoy. Petrus Heeren performed a sensual adolescent ritual in the front hut, recreating a teenage boy’s bedroom scene exploring his own physicality in the ‘private’ of his own space.

MATERIAL BOY

Australian designer Mic Eaton presented the European revival of his menswear line, with “a veritable wardrobe for the modern nomad’. For F/W 2010 the material boy became a renaissance man with a static show in RA, as models posed in eery still-lifes.

UN ANIMAL DEVRA MOURIR

La Cambre graduate Giuseppe Virgone showed his shredded, dissected collection of opulent menswear in a theatrical presentation, on young boys with golden masks by Guillaume Airriaud + live cassette tape electronica by Nomoi (Berlin).

ITS#9 RA AWARD

RA announced the recipient of the 2010 inaugural RA award at the ITS#9 fashion competition in Trieste, awarded to the Antwerp Academy designer Niels Peeraer, with his collection “Kisokuzy Akai No Dorei Geishan 58-65″. Niels Peeraer chose to show his collection on a group of Asian boys, as a relevant social piece that asks us to look past gender to see his utopian beauty. The garments were an array of body conscious stretch corsetery, high-waisted skirts, draped silk dresses and bondage harnesses worn with coats. Accessories were crafted from equestrian equipments, tying in with his study of the Japanese “ponyplay” fetish, when people dress as horses.

COLLECSSION

Japanese designer Sayaka Yamamoto presented her latest collection of handmade brooches and other unique jewellery pieces through the RA corridor, offering her works like a museum exhibit by presenting her pieces like found organic specimens in perspex cases. She accompanied the collections with her own intricate illustrations, published in a 20-page limited edition book, on sale with RA printed matter. 3 separate series “second life”, “tuber” and “sketch 1 – pine” were created from such unusual materials as toy soldoers, vintage buttons, inspired by new life and alternate perspectives of nature.

THE BLACK THEATRE

A lightbox shadow puppet theatre, edited by RA printed matter and illustrated by Lena Lumelsky, featuring scenes and characters from 20th century fashion history. Created as a limited edition of 200 copies, handmade in Belgium and sold at RA and MoMu on the occasion of the exhibition ‘BLACK. Masters of Black in Fashion & Costume’. Click here to check out the video on The Black Theatre!

More info on RA via http://www.ra13.be