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The Wittamer-De Camps and fashion

  • Courses and workshops
Through their boutiques ​‘Valens’ and ​‘Jane d’Anjou’, Louis Wittamer and Berthe De Camps brought out designs that had been purchased, reproduced or adapted from Parisian haute couture houses. This was a widespread way of working in Belgium from the 1950s onwards, but Valens and Jane d’Anjou stood out for the originality of their creations, especially wedding dresses and ball gowns for débutantes.

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Through their boutiques ​‘Valens’ and ​‘Jane d’Anjou’, Louis Wittamer and Berthe De Camps brought out designs that had been purchased, reproduced or adapted from Parisian haute couture houses. This was a widespread way of working in Belgium from the 1950s onwards, but Valens and Jane d’Anjou stood out for the originality of their creations, especially wedding dresses and ball gowns for débutantes. 

To mark the new Studio exhibition, The Wittamer-De Camps and fashion, its curators, Nicolas Lor and Mathilde Semal, give us an insight into the research they carried out to document the collection pieces. The speakers retrace their quest – taking in Brussels and Paris, patterns and design registrations, clients’ recollections and archives – to tell us the story of a fashion house.

By Mathilde Semal, curator of historical collections at the Fashion & Lace Museum, & Nicolas Lor, curator of the exhibition Diane von Furstenberg, Woman Before Fashion, and of contemporary collections at the Fashion & Lace Museum 

Practical information
•Tuesday 11.03.2025 at 18.30, doors open at 18.15
•By Mathilde Semal and Nicolas Lor
•Xxxx Room, Brussels City Hall
•Duration: 45 min to 1h
•Lecture in French
•Admission: free
•The lecture will be followed by a visit to the exhibition The Wittamer-De Camps and fashion at the Fashion & Lace Museum
•Reservations are required via our reservation platform