A brilliant pop-up collaboration between London fragrance house SARAH BAKER and Labels Inc., the Antwerp landmark store of Erna Vandekerckhove.
Passersby will certainly be stopping and looking at the arresting image recently unveiled in the main window of Labels Inc. on Antwerp's Nationalestraat, the main drag of the fashion district of the pocket-sized European fashion capital.
Our B2B matchmaking has truly resulted in a brilliant project.
Labels Inc. remains one of Europe's premiere retailers in vintage and previously owned designer fashion. Run by the wonderful Erna Vandekerckhove, her shop is often the last stop for top luxury fashion needing to be re-homed. And, in the hands of Erna, a veteran trooper who is an intrinsic part of exactly how Antwerp gained its fashion credentials second to none, Labels Inc. remains a shining example to which other retailers should aspire.
So, when American artist Sarah Baker brought her artist's POV to how she wanted to present her luxury fragrances in this city—a tough nut to crack in luxury fashion terms—for the first time, it was fireworks. Okay, so maybe not fireworks so much as ugly fish...
Sarah created a beautiful photographic homage to the 17th-century Flemish traditions of "vanitas" paintings featuring food; lots of fresh game, fish and produce to be more precise. The large-scale image, with a starring role by a particularly grim hake sourced from Fin & Flounder in London's Broadway Market, took centre stage in the main Labels Inc. window while the far more genteel fragrances were housed within.
Congratulations to Sarah on a notable entrance into Antwerp and to Erna for once again effortlessly underscoring that her store remains a hub of creativity and go-to landmark that any fan of high-end fashion fan needs to know.
