Dries van Noten

Dries Van Noten, Baron Van Noten (born 12 May 1958 in Antwerp) is a Belgian fashion designer and an eponymous fashion brand, which he co-founded with CEO and business partner Christine Mathys.

Early life and education Van Noten was born into a family of garment makers and traders – his father owned a menswear shop, while his grandfather was a tailor. He graduated in 1980 from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

Career Van Noten freelanced for a variety of local designers before launching a menswear line in 1986. That year, he presented his first menswear collection in London as part of The Antwerp Six collective. That led to a small order from Barneys New York. His style is said to be "eccentric", and fell out of favor during the long period of minimalistic fashion in the early 1990s, only to make a comeback towards the mid-2000s, culminating with Van Noten's winning of the International Award of the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2008.

In 2008, Van Noten dressed actress Cate Blanchett for the Academy Awards, and he has continued to dress her for other red carpet events since then. Other notable customers include Queen Mathilde of Belgium, and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. In 2018, the third episode of television show Killing Eve notably featured one of his items, known eponymously as the Dries van Noten suit.

The brand does not offer haute couture; all of its designs are ready to wear and available at retail: "I'm a little naive but I don't like the idea of showing things that you don't sell in a store", said Van Noten in a 2005 interview.

Van Noten's brand has shops in multiple locations worldwide. The first, opening in Antwerp in 1989, was Het Modepaleis. Shop openings in Hong Kong and Tokyo followed. In early 2007, a shop was opened in Paris, decorated with antiques collected by Van Noten and his partner Patrick Vangheluwe, followed ten months later by a shop in Singapore.

In March 2024, Van Noten announced his retirement from his namesake label after working in fashion for 38 years. His final collection was Menswear Spring/Summer 2025.

Legacy The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris mounted an exhibition in 2014 devoted to Van Noten's designs and their influences, which later traveled to Antwerp.

Personal life Van Noten and his partner Patrick Vangheluwe work and live in Antwerp. The couple resides in a house situated on a nearly seven-acre plot of land outside of the city.

In May 2025 he acquired the Palazzo Pisani Moretta in Venice (Italy).