Talking to Walter van Beirendonck for our archive feature in the September 'Collections' issue of Dazed & Confused, we asked him about his time at the infamous Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp as head of the Fashion Department. Heavily involved in the running of the courses, Walter is a tutor who both inspires and guides the students who are studying under him. As Walter also studied at the Academy, where his career began working with other various other friends and students who later became grouped as the hugely influential Antwerp Six, we decided to ask the him to highlight six of his current or recent students, that it would be well worth keeping your eye on.

Born in the Netherlands, Jantine van Peski studied at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute before joining the course in Antwerp, and has also previously worked as an intern at A.F Vandevorst and Haider Ackermann. Her menswear collections focus closely on silhouette, using a pared down, masculine aesthetic with the occasional more flamboyant element. Also a jewellery designer, Jantine doesn't necessarily have a guy in mind when she is formulating her collections, but lets her process be influenced by the people she meets. She allows the rough sketch of her 'man' to be altered and translated differently with each season.

Dazed Digital: How have you found being taught by Walter?
Jantine van Peski: I have found it exciting from beginning to end. Walter is really open-minded and that made it both challenging, and in some ways easy, to create my own small world in his classes.

DD: What have you taken from his teaching?
Jantine van Peski: I have learnt a lot from Walters’ point of view, which has given me the strength and freedom to develop my own views.

DD: What has Walter been like on a personal level?
Jantine van Peski: Walter is strict but kind, he has the ability to get the best out of you.

DD: Where do you take your inspiration from?
Jantine van Peski: From whatever comes my way. For this collection, Butoh Dancer Kazuo Ohno has inspired me, as well as surgical instruments for deforming your bones and biker clothing.  Also, I am a huge admirer of PJ Harvey. A part of her music always finds its way into my collection.

DD: Do you have someone in mind when you are designing?
Jantine van Peski: Not anyone in particular. I have a vague image of the perfect person in my head, which evolves constantly and translates itself differently every time.

DD: There is quite a punk element to your work. Are you interested in that scene?
Jantine van Peski: Yes I am. I admire the freedom of being yourself.

Check out the rest of our series in Walter van Beirendonck's The Joy of Six.