I finally got a chance to catch up with Angelo Van Mol, currently studying at the Antwerp Academy.  I asked him about his most recent collection. Van Mol explained that he was inspired by the richness of traditional garbs worn by Tibetan monks and sought to reinterpret that inspiration in a mix of formal/sports/ethnic influences.

It was this very vest that inspired my interest in Van Mol. It is bold, but not flamboyant. This is not the loud, vibrating world of Alexander McQueen but rather the calm and textured work of Dries Van Noten. It is young and without darkness. There is extreme enchantment in Van Mol's work that captures the vitality and immense faith of youth.

What complexities in ideas! What strong vision of cut and perfect awareness of colour and the kean nature of visual stimulation and proportionality. I admire his approach to take the influences that are centuries old and retell those ideas in modern fabric and lovely detailed work.

Van Mol obtained fabrics from Schoeller ag, the Swiss producer of hi-tech sportswear and was supported in part by sponsorship from ZAHIA. However, the labor-intensive and intricate collection was the results of much love and support from his family and friends. Van Mol recalls: "I was lucky enough to have had a loving sister and mom embroidering 7 months non stop and all my friends when ever they had time to help."

I was told by an acquaintance that Van Mol's work seem to be a study of a journey but I disagree. I think that what Van Mol very successfully gives in this collection is a rendering of his own take of the world.


The collection is a wonderful and successful study in balance. The shirts are missing all the common details of cuffs and collar. In place of those details, there is texture produced from a brilliant mix of different fibers, from wool to synthetics.



 Georgio Paponi, the father of a classmate produced Van Mol's spectacular shoe collection, which ended up with the Coccodrillo award for the most creative shoe.
In the end, it is Van Mol's simple and unified vision of a world beyond his own that had rendered this immaculate, powerful and articulate collection. Most of all and very rare, this is a poignant collection that speaks of elegant dressing without surrendering youth.