Dirk Bikkembergs was born in 1959 in Germany, where his Flemish father was stationed at the time. After his high school career, Dirk Bikkembergs was interested to attend law school because he found "lawyers so chic" but eventually decided to start studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium. In 1982 Bikkembergs graduated, together with other Belgian designers Ann Demeulemeester, Dries van Noten, Dirk van Saene, Walter van Beirendonck and Martin Margiela. Together they came to be known as the "Antwerp Six" by the fashion world.
In 1985, after winning the Canette d'Or award for Best Young Designer in Fashion, Dirk Bikkembergs was given the opportunity to create his own men's shoes collection. In 1989 Dirk Bikkembergs went to Paris and launched his first menswear collection, followed by the women's collection in 1993.
Dirk's first women's collections were (apart from size) identical to his menswear lines.
Dirk Bikkembergs has become particularly popular with young people since 2000 after he launched his fashion line 'Bikkembergs Sport', including the t-shirts with the famous footballer. This so-called 'sport-couture' has given Bikkembergs the opportunity to design the clothing for the Inter Milan football club.
He was the first fashion designer who received permission to hold a fashion show in the famous FC Barcelona football stadium Nou Camp. Bikkembergs suggests: „Sport in general and football in particular represent the language of a positive and particular way of life.“
www.bikkembergs.com
