Although Bruno Pieters has taken a short break from showing his own collections at Paris Fashion Week, the Belgian designer is part of an interesting young generation of Antwerp designers. As MoMu recognises the uniqueness of this talent, the collection department accepted a donation of thirty pieces of varied collections by Pieters late last year. The highlights of this particular donation come from the Autumn/Winter 2009/2010 and Spring/Summer 2010 collections – the latter can be appreciated in the video excerpt above.

Bruno Pieters Autumn/Winter 2009/2010.Photos by Marcio Madeira (left) and Frederik Heyman (right).

From the geometric preciseness of the Autumn/Winter 2009/2010 collection, Pieters donated some of the metallic bronze and black little jackets and coats with square shoulders and austere construction – an incredible exercise of tailoring that embodies a harsh and powerful silhouette for women. In contrast with the dark Winter 2010 collection, the Spring 2010 collection reveals a sheer lightness present in both textures and colours. The designer heavily explores feminine nude colours featuring mini dresses that look like a second natural skin, and though there is simplicity in the forms, attention to detail is evident as Pieters skilfully works with drapery and folding in those dresses. The quite spectacular and heavy–weight black crystal encrusted short dress with a low v split at the back, is shown on the catwalk as one of the main pieces from this season, and it is part of this donation to MoMu.

Centre left: Bruno Pieters Spring/Summer 2004. Photo by Frederik Vercruysse.

For those who would like to check the designer’s ability in working with knitwear, MoMu’s Unravel. Knitwear in Fashion, presents the exhibition visitor with two pieces by Pieters, from the donation to the collection department. The cotton-knitted sleeveless dress, originally from the Spring/Summer 2004 collection, makes reference to the use of natural fibres in knitting and it is incorporated into the sculptural knitwear section. The elaborately hand-knitted roll-neck jumper in open knitwear and embellished with ribbons (Autumn/Winter 2004/2005), is an authentic example of ‘unravelling’ knitwear and it is unveiled in the Unravel room of the exhibition.

MoMu and Bruno Pieters’ clientele are looking forward to seeing the come back of Pieters’ creative ideas translated into clothes that can be wearable yet with strong substantial content.