The Antwerp Fashion Management Summer School Experience – Day 2 – Van De Velde Lingerie tour!

At last the moment all the guys on the tour had been waiting for, the tour of the Van de Velde Holdings lingerie factory in Schellebelle! Ok, I kid, although I’m sure some had some funny ideas of what to expect. Personally, I knew very little about the company and wasn’t sure what was to come, but it was quite an interesting experience. After another crash course in business planning and practices from Karel Van De Velde, grandson of founders Margaretha and Achiel Van de Velde, who founded the company in 1919 as a corset and private label production company, we were given a tour of the prestigious factory. Van de Velde is actually now a holding company for five major luxury lingerie brands, Marie Jo (BE), Marie Jo L’Aventure (BE), Prima Donna & Prima Donna Twist (NL), catering to larger cup sized women, going all the way up to size I, (yes you know that letter that comes after D, E, F G and H!!) and the sultry Andres Sarda (SP). The company is currently worth a ridiculous 480 billion Euros with 180 million Euros in sales er year. What distinguishes them the most in the market is their dedication to educating women on how to properly wear their brassieres.

The tour consisted of their design and prototyping studios which we were not able to take photos of, but we had a carte blanche of their factory as you will see below. Follow the jump for more pics!