Like many luxury fashion houses, Antwerp-based label Dries Van Noten has been surfing the waves of change. Its founder, who bears the same name, has stepped down from the role of creative director and all day-to-day design responsibilities at the label he founded in 1986. The transition, though, couldn’t have been smoother.

Julian Klausner, a 33-year-old designer who has worked under Van Noten since 2018, has taken on the mantle. His debut show, presented at the Opéra Garnier during the last edition of Paris Fashion Week, was celebrated by the fashion industry for paying homage to the founder’s signatures while moving his vision forward. Meanwhile, Van Noten – who now sits on the front rows of his own shows to support his successor – has unlocked more time to tend to his garden in Lier, on the outskirts of Antwerp; oversee his label’s growing beauty line (most of which is heavily inspired by the aromas of his famous garden); and collect artworks, furniture and design objects from around the world for the brand’s newly opened boutique in London.

Visiting a Dries Van Noten shop has always been considered a creative pilgrimage of sorts: the brand’s Antwerp flagship and its Paris outpost on the Quai Malaquais are spaces where you can discover new artists, experience architectural landmarks or simply be inspired by taking in the colour palettes on the walls. In the Los Angeles store, there’s even a pianist greeting you at the entrance. “It really started in Paris in 2007,” says Van Noten. “That was the first time we approached a store as something more than just a place to show clothes. Everything from the garments, the furniture and the art [has to] work together.”

With backing by Puig, the Spanish group that bought the brand in 2018, Van Noten now has an opportunity to apply his vision for retail to new cities – and he has been doing so mindfully, taking his time and ensuring that each location has its own story to tell. In London, he picked a former bank on Hanover Square with barely visible signage and no other luxury shops in sight. “The space began to guide us – once we started placing objects, choosing textures and letting in the light, it started to show us what it needed,” says Van Noten. Contrast was one of the needs he quickly identified, choosing to juxtapose the Grade II listed building’s historic features with modern design items. “There’s a certain calmness and contrast that I associate with Flemish aesthetics and that comes through in the store too.”

Centre stage is a sculptural, brass chandelier by Belgium-based Vladimir Slavov, a one-of-a-kind design that Van Noten spotted at the Objects with Narratives gallery in Brussels. “This wasn’t a custom order but I found a way to postpone another client’s project to do this for Dries,” says Slavov from his workshop in Zaventem, just outside Brussels, where he sketches and creates prototypes and casts all his objects. A design purist, Slavov speaks of his love of “minimalist, strong shapes that can stand on their own” when it comes to design and to fashion. “The few [clothing] items I own that do attract a bit of attention are from Dries,” he adds with a smile, referring to an embroidered wool bomber jacket by the brand. “I don’t dress in a fashion-orientated way but Dries Van Noten designs appeal to me in a way that surprises even myself.”

As well as highlighting the works of fellow Belgian-based artists, Van Noten also makes a point to celebrate local makers. Another significant commission in his new London shop includes a round Convex mirror designed by Collier Webb and crafted at its workshop in Sussex. “Dries just walked into our showroom on Pimlico Road,” says David Arratoon, design director at Collier Webb. “I’m not sure if he was intending to come in or was just looking around. He fell in love with one of the mirrors and it all started from there,” adds Arratoon, who then worked on creating a custom mirror for the shop, as well as a brass-and-glass lighting fixture. “There was an ongoing discussion about the antiquing and patinating process of the mirror, which is done by hand and can be adapted to change the depth of the colours and overall feel of the object. We want our designs to feel like they’ve always been there.”

In fact, the entire boutique appears to have always been there. There might be something new to discover in every corner – menswear, womenwear and beauty ranges; Van Noten’s record collection; and artworks by the likes of Tracey Emin and David Hockney – yet the personal stories and emotions behind each object come together to create a welcoming, lived-in space. “You might see something very minimal next to something ornate, or something industrial beside something soft. It’s about finding harmony in this kind of tension,” says Van Noten.
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