Dirk Bikkembergs

Fashion designer Dirk Bikkembergs (1962-) studied fashion at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. He began Dirk Bikkembergs-Homme Co. in 1985 after serving in the army and working as a freelance designer. He was associated with the 'Antwerp 6', a group of designers with varying styles and individual design aesthetics who emerged from Belgium in the mid-1980s.

He became known for his footwear, especially his boots, and developed a design which removed the eyelet holes for laces and drilled a hole through the heel. He launched his first women's wear line in 1993.