PARIS, May 11, 2007/ FW/ --- There’s a new name on the Milan menswear calendar, Dries Van Noten. The award-winning Belgian designer has announced that he will be unveiling his Spring / Summer 2008 menswear collection in Milan.

The announcement was a big surprise to the fashion set. Van Noten who is known for his seemingly simple silhouettes that are actually created from complex constructions began his career in Paris wherein he debuted his menswear line in 1991. To date, the Belgian-born designer has presented 60 collections so far at the City of Lights.

“This change in venue in no way marks a spurning of Paris – the city where the brand has flourished,” the official announcement said. “Instead, the move aims to ensure the harmonious evolution of the Men’s and Women’s collections within the context of much tighter show schedules.”

One of the most remarkable designers who burst into the fashion scene during the 1980s, Dries Van Noten was one of the spearheads in developing modern urban dressing based on classical elements.

His designs are characterized by ‘counterpoints,’ wherein two seemingly opposite elements, sometimes from the opposite ends of the spectrum, are merged, making them into one.

Van Noten’s Fall 2007 / Winter 2008 menswear collection presented in Paris last January exemplifies his signature style. A pin-stripe suit jacket was cropped on the hipline and then made into a blouson. It’s young and hip while it also has the traditional look of a suit.

Always pushing the envelope, Dries Van Noten also experiments in fabrics. Born to the world of textiles via his family who is in the business, his innovations are seen both in his groundbreaking silhouettes and new fabrics that had been invented.

Moving venues to Milan, is definitely the Italian city’s gain and Paris’ loss, when it comes to menswear. But, don’t despair. The announcement also said that the designer’s Spring / Summer 2008 “Women’s Collection will be presented in October in Paris.”

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten