Emerging Talent
of the Year 2025
— Abdel El Tayeb
Abdel El Tayeb is a French-Sudanese designer hailing from Bordeaux. Having studied in Paris and Brussels (La Cambre), El Tayeb’s designs are made with the intent to power the wearer, straddling the undefined middle market between ready-to-wear and couture. His clothes are made in Sudan and aim to reflect the country’s history and contemporary identity. Abdel El Tayeb has served as an assistant designer at Isabel Marant, Balmain shoes, Cédric Charlier and Maison Margiela Artisanal. He has also worked on embroidery and lace at the haute couture house Franck Sorbier and studied product development at Ann Demeulemeester. Prior to leaving Bottega Veneta, Daniel Lee hired El Tayeb as an intern at the Milan-based fashion house where he worked subsequently for more than 4 years. In November 2021, Naomi Campbell awarded him the Debut Talent prize at the Fashion Trust Arabia awards in Doha.
Picture © Abdel El Tayeb – Ib Kamara
— REantwerp
Designer Tim Van Steenbergen and journalist Ruth Goossens set out to change the fashion system from within. With the support of GATAM vzw, they founded REantwerp, a fashion label that combines sustainability with a social mission. The label exclusively works with refugees, training them in their atelier for up to six months to prepare them for jobs in the Belgian fashion industry. For their collections, they use deadstock fabrics from Belgian designers, creating innovative pieces that celebrate the craftsmanship and personal stories of their team members. In 2025 REantwerp opened a pop-up in the centre of Antwerp and moved their studio and shop to a new location.
— Julie Kegels
Belgian designer, Julie Kegels, a graduate of Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, launched her eponymous label in 2024. Debuting at Women’s Fashion Week FW24-25 in Paris, her collection 50/50 challenged contemporary luxury by exploring different female archetypes. Each collection is built around a deeply researched theme, transforming garments into vessels of meaning. Her designs invite you to dream, bridging past and future in a timeless dialog. Whether drawn from modern influences or her own nostalgic memories, the young designer’s creative process centers on fully exploring fashion’s transformative power to create her unique universe. In this spirit, the accessories – jewellery, bags and shoes – weave together elements from the past and present. Notably, Kegels skillfully integrates romantic, old-world lace patterns into the collection using the latest thermoforming techniques, resulting in contemporary masterpieces.