In the Studio with Bernadette
Liberty took a trip to Antwerp to speak to the mother/daughter duo behind this romantic, powerful womenswear brand
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In the Studio with Bernadette
Liberty took a trip to Antwerp to speak to the mother/daughter duo behind this romantic, powerful womenswear brand
Bernadette and Charlotte De Geyter, the mother/daughter duo behind Antwerp-based womenswear brand Bernadette, describe their creations as a “conversation” between themselves: reflecting their shared inspirations and personal taste.
Founded in 2019, Bernadette and her daughter Charlotte have crafted a brand renowned for its botanical prints and creative colour combinations which stem from a family love of nature. With an aesthetic inspired by femininity and empowerment, the brand’s designs are fluid, romantic and timeless. The mission? To instil their wearers with confidence and joy, and to dress women across the generations: both Bernadette and Charlotte wear their brand almost every day, styling pieces as per their own unique senses of style.
To discover more about their ethos Liberty visited the brand at their headquarters in the Belgian city of Antwerp, home to some of the most celebrated fashion design talent of recent years – including Dries Van Noten and the Antwerp Six.
Here, they share the story behind Bernadette and how their mother/daughter relationship has shaped the clothes they create.
So tell us, how did Bernadette begin?
Charlotte: Bernadette began six years ago, and we started our journey together. We started, of course, as a mum and a daughter, but also as best friends. We had always shared so many memories together and so many ideas together. That's how it all began. We actually drew a lot of inspiration from my mom's closet.
Bernadette: Yes, I have a big archive!
When did you first become interested in design?
B: You started to draw very young, didn’t you?
C: Yes, I started drawing a lot and our family is obsessed with nature, so I started making a lot of botanical drawings.
B: It's a signature of our family to know the Latin names of trees and flowers.
C: Yes, and I used to make scrapbooks, cartoons, lots of sticker books. I loved to create all these little universes and little atmospheres. I really remember that as if it were yesterday.
Where do you both find your inspiration?
B: We've always been into fashion and we love old movies, or to find inspiration in books and in travelling. Or, sometimes we see things in life that are nice colour combinations that we could imagine on a garment.
C: Really, it’s everyday things that surround us, even people. Arts. Yes. Exhibitions. Yes. But we've seen people on the streets who have inspired us. The smallest things can inspire and we see a lot of beauty in small everyday things.
How do you work together? Do you often find you have the same ideas about design?
B: There's a lot of respect in our work and we like to learn from each other. We listen to each other, and it’s a good challenge, trying to be in each other's brain to really understand what each of us wants to bring to a design. We share the things we like constantly, it's a constant conversation between us.
Who is the Bernadette girl?
B: A happy girl who feels confident in life, in her clothes, in everything.
C: The Bernadette customer, for me, is really from girls to women: it’s both. Across different generations. She loves life and she loves to have fun with her clothing, but she loves to be comfortable too. Mostly, I think she takes a lot of pride when dressing up.
What's the biggest compliment that somebody who wears Bernadette could give you?
B: When they say that they feel confident.
C: When they feel good, when they feel feminine. One we hear a lot, is that someone wore one of our dresses to a party and got tonnes of compliments. For us that’s always like: okay, we, we did it right. She had a good evening.
And how important is your relationship as mother and daughter in the way that you work?
C: It's very natural for us. We constantly support each other and give each other confidence.
B: We can speak about everything.
C: Yes, which is extremely valuable in fashion. I would say that's most important thing we share. I love that my mum can help me open things up a bit and convince me that things can work and combinations can work.
B: I always say there is a solution for everything, and that sometimes we just need a bit of time to think about it and speak about it.
What’s your working relationship like?
B: It's a combination of ideas.
C: It's a constant conversation we have, always looking for inspiration and presenting it to each other. That's how we begin and as we spend a lot of time together, we're often in a similar mood.
The collections start off with the prints and the prints really set the mood of the collection. We look for different colour combinations and then I really start making the sketches for the clothing. There’s a lot of consultation through the whole process.
When we start making the prototypes we do the fittings together. My mum has really good sense of what makes a good fabric for each garment.
B: That's really fun to do together, yes.
C: It's always a very exciting moment when the collection arrives and we get to see it for the first time.
B: And then when it all comes together, we can put a name on the collection.
When did you first have the idea to start a brand together?
B: The first idea was from Charlotte. She rang me and she said: “mother, what do you think? Let's start a brand together. I'm moving back to Antwerp”. And I said, “Oh my God. Yes, why not!”
C: It was sort of a click moment for us. We said, let's just do it, let's go. And then we started fantasising about it. Who would wear it? Where? We dreamed big.
How do you feel like your city influences the way that you work?
C: Antwerp is a very important part of the brand and what it represents. It's a small city with a big name. It started when I studied at the Royal Academy in Antwerp. I was instantly surrounded by all these creative people from all over the world, it's a very international school and it is incredibly inspiring.
Today as well, Antwerp is very small and very calming and it gives us a lot of space to do what we do, and to take our time. The city has such a creative bubble, and there's many amazing designers from here. Every brand that comes from Antwerp or Belgium, has such a different brand aesthetic and that's a cool thing, for me, about Belgian or Antwerp designers.
Bernadette
Adrian Dress
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Bernadette
Lucille Snowdrop Midi Dress
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Bernadette
Samuel Single-Shoulder Dress
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Bernadette
Leanne Snowdrop Midi Skirt
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Bernadette
Orchidea Embroidered Jumper
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Bernadette
Gislene Cape-Effect Jersey Dress
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