To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Veronique Branquinho label, the Belgian designer is having a retrospective exhibition at the MOMU gallery in Antwerp, entitled Moi, VERONIQUE. BRANQUINHO TOuTe NUe. To help curate the space she enlisted the talents of Blitz Collective, a creative team comprising writer Oscar Van Den Boogaard, actor Steven Van Watermeulen and Sven Grooten of B-architects.

Born in Vilvoorde, Belgium in 1973, Veronique Branquinho graduated from the fashion department of the Antwerp Royal Academy in 1995. She first presented her women's collection in Paris in October 1997. In 2003, she added her men's line and opened her flagship store in Antwerp.

In this first retrospective exhibition, the designer lets us look inside her ambiguous, suggestive world, which features such obscurities as a full-size fake birch forest set in moonlight, and a fully plaid-covered gentleman's-style car. Each section of the exhibition space gives an overview of the themes and atmospheres that can be found in her previous collections. It also includes costumes created for films and theatre, artwork, and various Branquinho inspirations from film, photography and music. Recurring details like flowing maxi dresses and ambiguous capes conjure up a sense of curiosity and nostalgia in the wearer - things are never what they seem.

And in the weird and magical Branquinho space, outfits hang from ceilings like bodies hanging from nooses. In another dark room, empty 1970's whicker fan chairs greet you all in a chorus-line , paying homage to the cult soft-core Emmanuelle films of the 1970's, in true spirit of the Branquinho woman, who is simultaneously innocent and erotic, playful yet severe, mysterious and always complex, a constant emotional contradiction.

Moi, VERONIQUE. BRANQUINHO TOuTe NUe is at MOMU until the end of August.