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Antwerp Academy Student Suicide Calls Teaching Methods into Question

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  • Muji
    Junior Member
    • Feb 2017
    • 5

    Antwerp Academy Student Suicide Calls Teaching Methods into Question

    A long article bij Business Of Fashion about the culture at the fashion department of the "Academie" in Antwerp. I could have posted this in the university-topic but I felt that this story needs it's own topic because it is about the reality of the fashion industry and the next generation who will work in it.

    There is almost no positive thing about the academy in the article and (sadly) I must say that I read a lot of familiar things. I didn't study there myself but I know and worked together with multiple alumni.

    How the culture of the fashion department is described is actually pretty normal for fashion schools/art academy's but it looks like Antwerp takes it into the extremes.

    Van Beirendonck is “perceived as being some kind of god,” according to one former student. “To be honest, I think this school resembles a cult.”
    When talking about Antwerp, this is actually the exact same words I and my friends used to describe it. Alumni from Antwerp together are a clique when they work together in the industry and the way how they talk about Van Beirendonck feels indeed like he has some god-like status among them (bachelor and master students).

    Students also say public shaming is par for the course, with grades read aloud in front of the entire class. Those who do not pass are told so in front of the group.
    Talked about this with multiple people who studies in Europe and South-America but this is pretty normal, no clue why the article makes a point of this.

    “Everything is pushed in one direction,” the teacher said. “If you see the [end-of-year runway] shows, it’s all very similar. There is more than one way to make clothes.”
    Very true.

    But it’s not simply personal remarks and off-colour comments that accusers say diminish the confidence and mental health of students. The intensity of the programme and workload often causes them to break down physically, too, with some turning to drugs — in particular speed and cocaine — in order to power through.
    It's a bit sad to write this, but this is true for a lot or fashion and art academy's. When you see the students at the day of the deadline a lot look like zombies.

    I can't comment about the rest of the article, how foreign (particularly Asian) students are treated and how deep the development of mental illnesses during the studies are. But especially coming from BOF this article shocked me and the people I spoke to today.
  • Hon
    Member
    • Dec 2017
    • 33

    #2
    My deepest condolences to this young man's family, this is nothing short of a travesty. I don't want to step out of place on a topic I'm not too informed about, but I remember a few of the Ivy League schools having similar problems, most notably Cornell. No doubt the push to be "the best" is strenuous but, as brought up above, are the methods of these schools really justifiable? What are they hiding? I went to a preparatory school for one year and it truly was nothing short of cancer. That school is / was 100% a cult, with alumni favoring alumni just like mentioned above. I always called it "politics." I also feel as if the teachers in these schools are just outdated and unfamiliar with how the new generation functions. They've been doing the same things for hundreds of years and they aren't about to change for millennials. Besides these points, I feel unqualified to continue. Thanks for the post, Muji.

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