Tristan Stieners
Fashion Design MA
Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
Specialisms: Formal/Couture / Menswear / Womenswear
Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Tristan Stieners
First Name: Tristan
Last Name: Stieners
Specialisms: Formal/Couture / Menswear / Womenswear
Sectors:
My Location: Antwerp, Belgium
University / College: Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
Course / Program Title: Fashion Design MA
About
My name is Tristan, I’m 23 years old, from Belgium and I just finished my masters at the Antwerp Fashion Departement. In my work I’m mostly inspired by fragility and trying to give everything a soft and romantic feel without taking away the reality. Also dance plays a big part in my work. It not only translates into the silhouettes, but it is also a part of my working process.
It’s the last year that I’m creating free from any restrictions, solely curated from my mind without the need of following strict guidelines. I want my collection to feel like a celebration of my years as a student, standing still at the time that has passed. In a vague way a bit autobiographical. I started thinking about time and how our present is shaped by the past, depicting every piece of ourselves and linking it to things from our own past. It’s kind of how the current world is shaped. So for this collection I’m exploring the concept of time, through different facets. The passing of time and its influence on beauty. Carrying a sense of timelessness, while quietly hinting at the ephemeral nature of moments and the effects of decay. I want it to feel like a dialogue between eras. It's like stepping into a closet filled with items passed down through generations, each one adding something new over time. You throw something on without knowing its full story, appreciating it for what it is, but seeing it through your own lens, shaped by a different time and perspective.
Competitions
Global Creative Graduate Showcase 2026
The idea behind this collection started last summer, when I stumbled upon ASMR video’s of the V&A museum. It were video’s of the museum staff restoring archival pieces, and included delicate sounds of tissue paper being unraveled, sequins scratching on the table, brush strokes wiping the dust away, … . It fascinated me how garments, once worn around a human body, were now too fragile to even be held upright. This started to make me interested in the idea of fragility. I wanted to explore this idea through masculinity, because there is this preconceived notion of men that they are expected to be strong and unbreakable. It’s not fixed, but rather shaped by social norms and expectations. But what if they were looked at the same as this fragile museum object, handled with care and protected in this blanket of paper. Changing the way how men are perceived, and seeing the beauty in the fragility. With this in mind I started to design a collection that included elements of wrapping/packing things, and mixing them with masculine wear. For my material choices I used these suiting fabrics, that are typically associated with menswear, and combining them with more soft/delicate colors and textures. This collection for me is a way to question traditional ideas of masculinity by wrapping them in layers of tenderness and emotion.