The recipient of the 2013 MoMu Award was Pierre Renaux (°1990, France).
He presented his graduate collection ‘Liquidation Totale’ at the MoMu Gallery.
Drawings for the collection 'Liquidation Totale' (2013) by Pierre RenauxMoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp
Pierre Renaux was already thinking about his post-academy future at the start of this collection, realizing this would be the ‘last time’ (at least for a while) where he could decide on every aspect of a collection by himself.
This brought him both anxiety and relief, because he knew he’d have to make ‘tabula rasa’ when graduating from the academy, maybe even ultimately dissolving himself as a designer.
'Liquidation Totale', Backstage at SHOW 2013 © Boy Kortekaas (2013) by Pierre RenauxMoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp
Anticipating this scenario resulted in the ‘clearance sale’ or ‘everything must go’ principle, translated into a womenswear collection that shows garments that are in the middle of being ruined and/or dissolved.
'Liquidation Totale' at SHOW 2013 © Etienne Tordoir/Catwalkpictures (2013) by Pierre RenauxMoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp
'Liquidation Totale' at SHOW 2013 © Andrew Thomas (2013) by Pierre RenauxMoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp
At the basis is a businesswoman’s attire, the image of a cold, godlike, controlled woman, ‘the last woman standing’ of a company, a CEO who had to fight in order to say what she wanted to say, and who wears suits as rigid, armour-like garments.
Photo of the collection 'Liquidation Totale' © Michaël Smits (2013) by Pierre RenauxMoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp
It is contemporary formal attire with a twist: the synthetic materials (neoprene, wax, plastic) are being distorted, twisted and appear to be melting or seem to consist of glass shards. They are mutating.
Photo of the collection 'Liquidation Totale' © Michaël Smits (2013) by Pierre RenauxMoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp
Each silhouette contains the tension between a kind of cold-heartedness and more sensual shapes, between strength and softness. The woman is being protected against her environment by clothes that are both body-hugging and yet dissolving.
Photo of the collection 'Liquidation Totale' © Michaël Smits (2013) by Pierre RenauxMoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp
Pierre Renaux doesn’t see this collection as a pessimistic statement about his own future, but rather as a realistic exercise through which he creates new, coincidental energy, in which he loses control in order to create space for something new to follow.
'Liquidation Totale', Backstage at SHOW 2013 © Boy Kortekaas (2013) by Pierre RenauxMoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp
The tantalizing, futuristic shoes, are 3D-printed in Belgium, a first for the Antwerp catwalk!
Following his graduation in 2013, Pierre Renaux was awarded the Most Promising Young Talent Award by Marie Claire Magazine. He saw his work presented in London, Paris, New York, Vancouver and featured in several high caliber publications. He went on to dressing powerful cultural figures such as Veruschka and Beyoncé under his own label, PRX. After working for Porsche in Berlin, he moved to Paris where he currently resides.
www.facebook.com/PRXindustries
www.pierrerenaux.com
www.instagram.com/prx_industries
Every year, MoMu awards a prize to one of the graduating Master students of the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp: originality, a strong visual language and craftsmanship are key ingredients for a collection to win a prize.
The MoMu Award gives a single student the opportunity to present his or her collection in an exhibition at the MoMu Gallery.
Special thanks to Pierre Renaux and the photographers Boy Kortekaas, Michaël Smits, Andrew Thomas and Etienne Tordoir.
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