Bruno Pieters (born 17 June 1975 in
Bruges
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population.
The area of the whole city a ...
, Belgium) is a Belgian fashion designer based in
Antwerp. He studied at the
Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp graduating with a BA in Fashion Design in 1999. Pieters is highly regarded for his
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
creations and sharp tailoring. He worked with renowned designers including
Martin Margiela
Martin Margiela (born 9 April 1957) is a Belgian fashion designer, artist, and founder of French luxury fashion house Maison Margiela. Throughout his career, Margiela has maintained a low profile, refusing to grant face-to-face interviews o ...
,
Josephus Thimister and
Christian Lacroix to develop his talent. After a two-year break he introduced his comeback label Honest By Bruno Pieters in 2012.
Life and career
Two years after his graduation in 1999, Bruno Pieters launched his first collection in July 2001 during
Paris Fashion Week
Paris Fashion Week (french: Semaine de la mode de Paris) is a series of designer presentations held semiannually in Paris, France with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year. Dates are determined by the French Fashion Federation. ...
. The next year, he introduced his
ready-to-wear
Ready-to-wear (or ''prêt-à-porter''; abbreviated RTW; "off-the-rack" or "off-the-peg" in casual use) is the term for ready-made garments, sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothing ...
collection for both male as female. Praised by
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
international editor and fashion journalist
Suzy Menkes
Suzy Peta Menkes (born 24 December 1943) is a British journalist and fashion critic. Formerly the fashion editor for the International Herald Tribune, Menkes also served as editor, Vogue International, for 25 international editions of ''Vogue'' ...
and other fashion critics, his career took flight. As result, in 2005 Pieters was named creative director of the men’s line at the Belgian brand
Delvaux, the oldest fine leather luxury goods company in the world. He fulfilled this position two years and, in 2007 he was asked to become creative director of the avant-garde line HUGO by the German brand
Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss AG, often styled as BOSS, is a luxury fashion house headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, accessories, footwear, and fragrances. Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing companies, ...
.
During his time as art director for
Delvaux and
Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss AG, often styled as BOSS, is a luxury fashion house headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, accessories, footwear, and fragrances. Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing companies, ...
, Pieters was still working on his own name label. He can be seen as a technician, a constructor, one who experiments with profiles and proportions. One of the features of his work is the combination of perfect cuts and homage to craftsmanship. The autumn/winter collection of 2009-2010 proves this feature, focusing on geometrically constructed skirts, dresses and hooded jackets. In addition, his spring/summer collection of 2010 explored a new form of the
bandage dress, gently wrapped around the body in constructed geometric diagonal layers.
After launching the spring/summer collection of 2010, Pieters decided to take a break from his fashion career. In that same year, he ended the collaboration with Hugo Boss. As a result, much of his collection archive was given to the
MoMu Fashion museum of Antwerp, while the rest was sold to give the funds to SISP, a children’s charity in Southern India. The choice for this charity was no coincidence as Pieters spent his break from the fashion industry mainly in India. Simultaneously, his experiences in India emerged awareness and need to create a new model for the fashion industry. This resulted in his comeback label Honest By Bruno Pieters in 2012.
Current label
Honest By
Confronted by the injustice of the
supply chain and the poor working conditions in countries such as India, Bruno Pieters wants to focus on
sustainable fashion
Sustainable fashion (also known as eco-fashion) is a term describing products, processes, activities, and actors (policymakers, brands, consumers) aiming to achieve a carbon-neutral fashion industry, built on equality, social justice, animal ...
and
transparency. His new innovative label Honest By is
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
, luxury fashion that is mostly sustainable, mostly organic and financially transparent. In addition, twenty percent of the profit of his label goes to charity. The sustainability is featured in the use of mainly organic, natural and animal friendly materials. Bruno Pieters also wants to make his design sustainable by producing something you can wear and enjoy more than just one season, a collection designed to last. For example, his autumn/winter collection of 2012-2013 is a reinvention of classics such as the
trench coat
A trench coat or trenchcoat is a variety of coat made of waterproof heavy-duty fabric, originally developed for British Army officers before the First World War, and becoming popular while used in the trenches.
Originally made from gabardine, ...
, the
bomber jacket and
jeans. Pieters deconstructs and reconstructs existing fashion classics to make it into something new but still classical, introducing the term
neo-classic hybrids.
Furthermore, Honest By shows people where the materials come from, how much they cost, who made the product, where it was made and how much money everybody earns along the
supply chain. As result of this 100% transparency, Bruno Pieters wants to make consumers aware and critical about where clothes come from and how they are produced. He also emphasises the influence consumers can have on clothing companies if they ask questions and express their demands.
In his vision to change the model of the fashion industry, making it more sustainable and transparent, Bruno Pieters has launched the Future Fashion Designer Scholarship for upcoming designers. The aim of the FFDS is to give fashion design students the opportunity to develop their graduation collection in a responsible, sustainable and transparent manner. The winner of the FFDS receives 10.000 euro cash and guidance from Bruno Pieters himself to make his or her debut as fashion designer.
Awards
* The Swiss Textile Award in 2006
* The
ANDAM
ANDAM is a French fashion award established in 1989 by Nathalie Dufour as a joint venture between the French Ministry of Culture and the Defi Mode fashion organisation. It has been recognised as a benchmark for designers, fashion professionals, and ...
Award from the Pierre Berge and Yves Saint Laurent Foundation in 2007
* The
Elle Style Awards The Elle Style Awards are an awards ceremony hosted annually by ''Elle'' magazine.
List of award winners
2017
The 2017 edition of the Elle Style Awards took place on 13 February 2017.
* Style Influencer of the Year: Debbie Harry
* TV Actress of t ...
in 2008
* The
H&M Conscious Designer Award in 2014
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pieters, Bruno
Living people
Belgian fashion designers
1975 births