Walter Van Beirendonck : DAWLEETOO

Dilapidated walls and a disused car park: this was the setting for Walter Van Beirendonck’s men’s spring summer 2024 show.

A member of the iconic Antwerp Six, Van Beirendonck has always stood out for his invitations to fantasy worlds. His creations, however imaginary, are always endowed with irony and a reminder of reality.

“I love doing research.

That’s always how I start”, says the Belgian designer.

says the Belgian designer.

Immersing ourselves in memories, discoveries and the arts, both contemporary and historical, are the starting points for a collection.

This creative process then continues internally. The inspirations then become sublimated by Walter’s imagination and visualisations.

What’s more, Walter Van Beirendonck admits that new technologies such as artificial intelligence have influenced this research in the most trippy ways.

This is how Walter Van Beirendonck found himself fascinated by the intriguing images of DAWLEETOO.

The result is the DAWLEETOO collection, presented in Paris on Wednesday 21 June, in which the designer plunges us into the search for this famous lost city.

The designer’s fascination with this city that never existed has resulted in a colourful collection that creates its own lexicon of the alien.

With alien boxers, coats adorned with otherworldly patterns and hieroglyphics, latex suits and also winged suits with scarab epaulettes, Walter had fun showing us the semi-dreamt reality in which we now live.

While the collection began with monochromatic tones and two-tone ensembles in red and white, the latest looks have evolved towards the most contrasting colour duo: yellow and black.

These two colours were also accompanied by the Extinction symbol, once again evoking the danger humanity is in.

The danger of being both the explorers of these new technologies and the victims of our own inventions.

Dawleetoo’s epic adventure ended with a procession of plastic-coated skeletons with the letters on the back forming the brand’s slogan: “Stop terrorizing our world”.

Text: Vincent Bodiguet

Airs de Paris in Kiosk

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Numbers 07 2023