With 20 to watch, Flanders DC presents twenty emerging talents, who recently took their first steps in the worlds of design or fashion. We believe they will have great success in the future.

Who is Marie Bernadette Woehrl?

• studied at the Accademia Costume & Moda in Rome
• worked for Ann Demeulemeester for seven months in 2020 as an accessories designer
• won the Première Classe 2023 talent award

The process of making is extremely important to me. It is not of secondary importance after the creative process, but goes hand in hand. It is an artisanal project and product. You can see my signature and my craftsmanship in the final result. I do the weaving, cutting and knotting in my studio in Antwerp. It makes me feel complete to go through all the steps of the process myself.

The hardest part is defining and reaching my target audience. I have yet to learn how to market my brand. I get a lot of positive feedback from the people around me, but like me, these are young idealists who cannot always afford my pieces. My target audience must have a certain mindset, understand my designs and understand where the price comes from. My approach can work in a certain niche where there is a focus on craftsmanship, but I have to balance it with a sideline that is more commercial or easier to produce.

The most important thing is to stay very close to my core, which has already brought me so far in such a short time. Ann Demeulemeester is a source of inspiration in that regard. My time there was one big stylistic lesson of how to keep an identity and make that interesting for decades. That’s why I love working with leather so much. It has a longevity that you simply won’t find in artificial leather or plant-based leather. I also work with deadstock leather. I like to give new value to something that is outdated and that the system has discarded. I prefer to make something fragile with movement in it from the almost aggressive material. I love that tension in my work.