From the Runway to Your Beauty Bag: Dries Van Noten Is Now at MECCA
August 26 | 4 minute read
Words by Jane McFarland
Since launching his company in 1986, the Belgian designer has built his brand on luxury clothing, known for hybridising bright, lush colours, opulent textures and bold prints. Dressing the likes of Cate Blanchett, Florence Pugh and Timothée Chalamet, his hot-ticket runway pieces are collectable favourites among fashion fans.
It’s fashion that makes you feel: a riotous mash-up of colour and pattern which is always luxury, but never quiet. His blown-up, Bloomsbury flowers have even convinced me, a bonafide minimalist, to wear florals (occasionally). While many brands systematically churn out a homogeneous lineup of wardrobe staples season after season, Van Noten takes a sartorial classic and turns it on its head.
See: an oversized men’s coat, embellished with diamonds and ostrich feather textures, or faux fur clogs. His cult, slightly kooky footwear is always spotted on the FROW during fashion weeks, with the brand’s Brat-green suede sneakers, almost entirely sold out, earning themselves a top 10 spot within global retail platform Lyst’s survey of the hottest products this quarter. As for his runway shows? Emotive, theatrical and never, ever boring.
Then, in 2022, nearly four decades after starting his eponymous brand, he made his first foray into beauty. The inaugural collection of 10 gender-fluid eau de parfums and 30 lipsticks – loved for their moisturising (hello, rosehip oil) formula and luxurious, maximalist packaging – immediately gained cult status among both the beauty cognoscenti and Van Noten’s die-hard disciples.
“When Dries Van Noten launched into the beauty space, it was a bit of an insider secret that beauty editors were reluctant to share. Yes, the refillable lipstick cases and graphic flacons are works of art, but crucially the formulas and fragrances are truly standout and reflect Dries Van Noten’s fashion DNA of luxury craftsmanship,” agrees London-based beauty editor Verity Clark.
As per Van Noten’s personal approach to fashion, each finely-honed product tells a story. The Mystic Moss EDP (coming soon to MECCA), with notes of green mandarin and sage, is inspired by his love of patchouli, which he has planted in his sprawling garden at home outside Antwerp. (Its hundreds of species of plants and flowers often form the inspiration behind his ready-to-wear collections.) Unlocking unique and expected combinations is central to the brand’s ethos: see Soie Malaquais, which layers chestnut and silk, and Fleur du Mal, combining osmanthus and suede.
Image credit: Jackie Nickerson
Then there’s its eco credentials: each fragrance is made up of at least 85 percent plant-derived ingredients and comes in a bottle made up of responsibly sourced, recyclable materials.
The lipsticks are refillable too – so you’ll never need to throw anything away. Not that you’ll want to. The heavenly, maximalist bottles nod to the collectable movement in beauty, where products are designed to be works of art and treasured forever – much like his fashion designs, which are a rarity on the resale market.
“What strikes me most is that they haven’t gone down the ‘more is more’ route like so many other luxury fashion houses; they don’t continually – and unnecessarily – launch new products and iterations of the same products, but instead have curated a tightly refined edit,” notes Clark.
Van Noten himself has always gone against the grain. In 1986, he kick-started his fashion career – and what would become known as the ‘Antwerp Six’ – when he and five fellow graduates drove a rental van to a London trade show, putting Belgian design on the map.
Nearly four decades later, in March this year, Van Noten shocked the industry when he announced his retirement with a public letter.
“My dream was to have a voice in fashion,” he wrote. “That dream came true. Now, I want to shift my focus to all the things I never had time for.”
While his decision left fashion fans bereft, he has stayed on to oversee the beauty side of the business – with plenty more to come. ‘“It [beauty] feels a bit like the essence of what a house stands for. You have all the DNA in a bottle,” Van Noten told WWD, on the day of his last show. Here’s to another 40 years.
