Dries Van noten was born in Antwerp in 1958, into a three-generations-old family of tailors. His earliest memories are of the fashion world and, even as a child, there was never any doubt that he would pursue a career in design.
Reaching university age, he enrolled in the prestigious Antwerp Academy. With his well-touted 1986 presentation of a men's collection in London, under the aegis of the "Antwerp Six", Dries Van Noten received both recognition by the fashion press as well as his first store orders from such prominent retailers as Barneys New-York, Whistles in London and Pauw in Amsterdam.
The August, 1989 opening of Dries Van Noten's Antwerp boutique, Het Modepaleis, marked a major turning point in the designer's career. The store spans three floors of a sweeping 1831 structure, and features the designer's collections-men's, women's and accessories.
A new era began for Dries Van Noten, when in 1991, he staged a Paris runway show of his men's ready-to-wear collection.
The joint opening in 1993 of two showrooms in Paris and Milan marked Dries Van Noten's ability to meet the continual demands of the international buying community, while allowing the designer to maintain his close, personal relationships with an ever-growing roster of retailers. On the store front, Dries Van Noten recently expanded his intimate empire even further with the opening of two new shops, one in Tokyo, in February 1997, and another in Hong Kong in September 1997.