La Cambre in Brussels is surely the closest thing to utopia on Earth for fashion students. Funded by the Belgian government, it’s almost free, and even non-EU students pay just 4,174 euros annually (a comparison to sicken US and UK students struggling under tens of thousands of in fees.) It’s not the inexpensiveness which makes La Cambre Modes fashion department stand out as an educational phenomenon, though. It’s the dizzying number of alumni names-to-conjure-with who’ve studied under Tony Delcampe in the school, set in a 13th-century abbey in this quiet, beautiful Belgian city. Names such as Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent, Nicolas Di Felice of Courrèges, Julien Dossena at Rabanne, Julian Klausner at Dries Van Noten. Not to mention Marine Serre, Ester Manas, Louis-Gabriel Nouchi, and Marie-Adam Leenaerdt, all of whom are making a mark with their own businesses.

Everyone in the industry is wildly curious to divine exactly what kind of sorcery takes place here. This year an international jury of buyers, curators, designers, headhunters, PRs, the legendary Belgian makeup artist Inge Grognard and editors—me amongst them—came to see the class of 2025. There were just 12 of them. Often, you sense a vibe running through a class. This year, there was a lot of experimentation with multiple surfaces, latticed, caged silhouettes, bodies submerged as if in furniture, carpets, or vehicle upholstery. The human form merging with inanimate objects. Not a lot of sex or sensuality involved.

Yet as is often the case, the students’ themes, research and techniques became much more alive—and amazing—off the runway and in conversation.

French student Théodora Hadj Moussa Laube made a collection based on the idea of a sailboat, splicing strips of wood veneer together with delicate, hyper-feminine florals. “I had this idea that living life is like being on a boat. It’s very personal,” she said. “I had this kind of metaphor that it was a very beautiful way to live.” She made a parallel between corsetry and boning and the curves of a ship’s hull, fusing fabric and wood laminate in an incredibly light way.

She won top marks of the year. “I knew I had to come to La Cambre,” she said. “I need to learn techniques, and love the seriousness of the school. I felt really happy when I was doing this.” Tony Delcampe, the head of the faculty, would have been pleased to hear this. Technical innovation is pushed at the school—a kind of specificity of developing ideas which will always result in fashion ideas. “In many schools, I think today, they say they have to express themselves, to do whatever—something that is not related with garments,” said Delcampe. “But our goal here is to make garments, to generate new ways of thinking, new volumes of fabrics and finishing, that’s what we think is most important.”