Vaniitas is a Belgium based store (formerly located in Antwerp). We sell mainly online, however, appointments are still possible in Geel.

Although we initially sold many vintage brands, from Margiela to archive Helmut Lang and Hussein Chalayan, we found we had to narrow it down and find our niche. Looking at our fashion history, bringing forth the Antwerp Six and Martin Margiela, and as the chauvinists we are, we started focusing on the Belgian and Japanese avant-garde.

One of the Belgian school would take the poetics of deconstruction initiated by the Japanese designers even further – Martin Margiela.

Margiela, another Belgian contemporary, was not actually part of the group that showed in London, although he is often mistakenly described as one of the Antwerp Six; he had moved to Paris, initially working for Jean Paul Gaultier.

Martin Margiela found his own voice through a radical aesthetic: he maximised deconstruction and dissection of the garments, making this process a form of reflection; he moved elements, such as sleeves or collars, forcing the wearer to put them on sideways or backwards, and making garments appear two-dimensional when laid flat.

Where as couture used to be this grand spectacle of opulence, Martin preferred to work with found objects, recycling and upcycling them, following the thinking pattern of arte povera. This influence could also be found in the knitwear produced by Miss Deanna, featuring pulled hems, garments produced with tears and loose threads, stretched out jumpers.

His most iconic work might be the tabi boot, an interpretation of the split-toed tabi boots or jika-tabi, worn by Japanese workers. By putting a heel under the tabi boot, their initial function as a working shoe was completely transformed.

Over the years there have been many versions, from graffiti and cemented versions, to the most extreme sole-version that had to be duct-taped to the models’ feet.

When asked: ‘what is the most important footprint of your career?’ Martin Margiela stated: “it’s the Tabi boot.” It’s recognisable and it has been there for more than 25 years now – it’s there, and it still goes on, and it has never been copied. It’s an incredible story.”

It is hard to not understand our love of these iconic designers, changing the way we think and look at clothing and women’s bodies.

As a store, but also collectors, we try to gather as many historical pieces to distribute to fellow aficionados. To avoid keeping these items landing in private collections or just in the fashion museum archives, we keep our archive collection online. This way, we these pieces on exhibition for everyone to view. We’re not just a store; we aim to be a digital fashion library, keeping the history of these designers alive.