Dries Van Noten’s lifelong fascination with craft and making runs deep. He grew up in a multigenerational family of retailers and tailors in Antwerp, and in the 1980s, he was part of the famed avant-garde Antwerp Six group of Belgian fashion designers. From 1986 to 2024, across 38 years and 129 runway shows, Van Noten built one of fashion’s most admired independent houses. Since stepping away from the helm of his namesake label two years ago, he has turned his attention to establishing the Fondazione Dries Van Noten in Venice, Italy. Set within the 15th-century Palazzo Pisani Moretta on the Grand Canal, his newly opened foundation is dedicated to craft in its broadest sense—bringing together artists, designers, makers, and thinkers across disciplines and generations. Its debut exhibition, “The Only True Protest Is Beauty,” on view through Oct. 4, features a playful, eclectic assemblage of striking works from the worlds of haute couture, jewelry, photography, art, design, ceramics, and glass.

For this “site-specific” episode of Time Sensitive, our Season 13 finale, Spencer meets up with Van Noten inside his foundation to discuss his lifelong fascination with making; beauty as an essential force in one’s life; and his conviction that, in our frenzied, fragmented world, craft offers a gateway to greater meaning and human connection.

Special thanks to our Season 13 presenting partner, L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts.

Show notes:

Dries Van Noten

[01:08] Fondazione Dries Van Noten

[08:33] Chiara Pisani

[14:28] “The Only True Protest is Beauty.”

[14:33] Phil Ochs

[17:05] Misha Kahn

[17:05] Ettore Sottsass

[17:05] Palazzo Pisani Moretta

[18:36] Steven Shearer

[19:36] Lionel Jadot