antwerp memories
If I could live anywhere in Europe, I think I would choose Antwerp. It's really difficult to put my finger on exactly what it is that I find so attractive about it. It has a kind of artsy and intelligent self-awareness that is never permitted to blossom into full-blown snobbery.
When the Parisian fashion crowd travels down to Antwerp, they do so in the full glory of slumming. But the designers in Antwerp know this as well, and slum it up for all its worth, thereby getting the avant-edge that comes from being the "outsider" as well as the euros and yen that come from the Parisian fashion machine. In a sense, they leave the snobbery to the professionals.
What got me thinking about Antwerp was this project they're doing, a sort of SMS urban memory machine.