If you like cutting corners, you might describe Paul Boudens as ‘a graphic designer, mostly active within Belgian fashion and culture, who also designs a lot of books.’ The thing is: Paul Boudens really, viscerally hates cutting corners. The name Paul Boudens has become synonymous with Belgian fashion. His signature style has been a propelling force in the visual language of art, theatre and dance for decades, across Europe and far beyond.
Paul’s work has an unparalleled kinetic energy with a distinct and layered finishing touch that’s mesmerizing to fashion-obsessed Gen-Z’ers on TikTok and creative industry veterans alike.
Paul Boudens
“Every collaboration is very intense for me. You get a 100% Boudens or nothing”
Paul Boudens
1991 - Poster for the Show of the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
1992 - Invitation Summer 1993 for Belgian fashion designer Wim Neels
1996 - Invitation Summer 1997 for Belgian fashion designer Jurgi Persoons
1996 - Invitation Summer 1997 for Belgian fashion designer Jurgi Persoons
1997 - Mutilate, book for Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck and Imschoot publishers
1997 - Mutilate, book for Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck and Imschoot publishers
1998 - Invitation Autumn-Winter 1998–1999 for Belgian fashion designer Jurgi Persoons
1998 - Invitations Spring-Summer 1999 for Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten
1998 - Invitation Spring-Summer 1998–1999 for Belgian fashion designer Jurgi Persoons
1998 / 1999 - Invitations Spring-Summer 1999 and Autumn-Winter 1999–2000 for Belgian fashion designer Olivier Theyskens
2001 - Two books for Antwerp city project Fashion2001 Landed-Geland, curated by Walter Van Beirendonck
2001 - N°A Magazine, curated by Dirk Van Saene, for Antwerp city project Fashion2001 Landed-Geland
2002 - Poster for (but if a look should) April me by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker/Rosas in opera house La Monnaie, Brussels
2002 - Book Backstage – The Fashion Museum for MoMu – Fashion Museum Antwerp, published by Ludion
Aside from his leading graphic design for Walter Van Beirendonck, the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and MoMu – Fashion Museum Antwerp, he’s also created universes for Yohji Yamamoto, Dries Van Noten, Jurgi Persoons, Haider Ackermann, Olivier Theyskens, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s Rosas dance company and P.A.R.T.S. school, the Brussels Opera, Kaaitheater and more. He has designed more than 50 books, featured as collector’s items in the best bookstores around the world. (out of the interview taken by Dominique Nzeyimana & Immi Abraham for the publication on the Henry van de Velde Awards 23)
2003 - Poster for ConSerVations/ConVerSations by Kris Defoort in opera house La Monnaie’s New Horizons programme in Kaaitheater, Brussels
2004 - Invitation Spring-Summer 2004 for Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto
2006 - A Magazine curated by Jun Takahashi / Undercover
2007 - A Magazine curated by Martine Sitbon
2007 - Poster for Steve Reich Evening by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker/Rosas in opera house La Monnaie, Brussels
2008 - Book for the exhibition Maison Martin Margiela ‘20’ The Exhibition in MoMu – Fashion Museum Antwerp
2008 / 2009 - Two invitations, Spring-Summer 2009 and Autumn-Winter 2009–2010, for Dutch-French-Columbian fashion designer Haider Ackermann
2010 - Poster for the solo exhibition Trust Me – I Know What I’m Doing. Paul Boudens Graphic Design 1990–2010 in The Wapping Project, London
2011 - Poster for the Show of the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
2012 - Interior Life, book for interior designer Gert Voorjans, published by Lannoo
2014 - Book Yamamoto & Yohji for Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto, published by Rizzoli New York
2014 / 2013 / 2011 - Book Walter Van Beirendonck – Dream The World Awake for MoMu – Fashion Museum Antwerp, published by Lannoo
2020 - Book I’ll Wear It Until I’m Dead – The SONG Fashion Archives for fashion store Song in Vienna, published by Lannoo
2021 - Book MODE. The MoMu Collection Antwerp for MoMu – Fashion Museum Antwerp, published by Lannoo
2022 - Book Mirror Mirror – Fashion & the Psyche for MoMu – Fashion Museum Antwerp, published by Hannibal
The jury on Paul Boudens:
The jury decided to award the Lifetime Achievement Award to graphic designer Paul Boudens due to his signature style, international appeal and influence on the graphics industry both in Flanders and far beyond. In the past 30 years, Paul Boudens has developed a strong, iconic style and he is seen as a passionate designer who is not afraid to challenge the status quo. Paul is a pioneer of graphic design and has helped the Belgian fashion industry to establish its identity with his quirky designs, in which handcrafted elements often play a major role.
