A New Chapter Begins in Antwerp as the Designer Prepares to Debut the First Collection in 2026
A poetic prelude marks the next chapter in Olivier Theyskens’ long and storied fashion journey. The Belgian designer has announced the launch of Boloria, a new fashion house founded in Antwerp under his creative direction. With a visual identity conceived by longtime collaborator Willy Vanderperre, the brand will make its formal debut with a first collection in 2026—but its intent is already clear: to bring an uncompromising pursuit of beauty and meaning to the fore.
Anticipatory, enigmatic, and steeped in aesthetic rigor, the first visuals of Boloria introduce the philosophical undercurrent of the house. The name itself evokes transformation—named after a genus of butterflies—and signals a quiet power that reflects Theyskens’ lifelong devotion to artistry. “These photographs invite interpretation,” the brand notes. “They open a dialogue, beginning a new conversation.”
Founded in partnership with Belgian creative group WEAREONE.world, Boloria marks a new kind of long-term collaboration for Theyskens. The group, known for building Tomorrowland into a global phenomenon, is expanding into fashion for the first time. With a headquarters in Antwerp and outposts in Brazil, France, Thailand, and Ibiza, WEAREONE.world shares the same cultural DNA that has long shaped Theyskens’ own point of view: emotional resonance, sensitivity, and a belief in the transformative power of creative experiences.
For Theyskens, who was born in Brussels in 1977 to a Belgian father and French mother, this return to Belgium feels more like a full-circle moment than a pivot. His passion for couture began as a child—at seven, he famously declared his intention to become a couturier—and he entered Brussels’ École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre at just 17. By 1997, he had dropped out to launch his namesake label, working from his family’s home and even using old linen sheets from Normandy for his early designs.
His first collections—shown in Belgium and then quickly in Paris—electrified the fashion world. VogueRunway described them as “strong, dark collections that electrified fashion in the late nineties,” and Madonna wearing one of his black satin gowns to the 1998 Academy Awards vaulted his designs into international consciousness. That same moody romanticism would become his signature across the houses he would later helm.
In 2002, Theyskens was appointed Artistic Director at Rochas, where his poetic vision reinvigorated the storied house and earned him both the CFDA’s Best International Designer award and the Fashion Group International’s Star Award. He moved on to Nina Ricci in 2006, where his mastery of fluid eveningwear further established his reputation for cinematic glamour. After a period in New York, he joined Theory in 2010, eventually taking the reins as Artistic Director, and developing the popular Theyskens’ Theory line—“cool clothes for cool girls,” as he once put it.
He relaunched his own label in 2016, showing in Paris once again, and in 2020 took on the additional role of Artistic Director at Azzaro, overseeing all lines while continuing his independent work. His career has also extended into costume design and the art world, collaborating with everyone from The Smashing Pumpkins to the New York City Ballet.
Theyskens’ work has been celebrated in museums globally, including a 2017 retrospective at MoMu in Antwerp, She Walks In Beauty, and In Praesentia, a 2019 exhibition in Calais. His first monograph, The Other Side of the Picture, was published in 2009, offering a glimpse into his romantic world.
With Boloria, he begins again—but not from scratch. Rather, it’s an evolution: a convergence of his past lives and a distillation of his artistic convictions. As the brand notes, it is founded with “distinctly Belgian values—sensitivity, integrity, emotional resonance—that have always inspired Theyskens’ work and approach to fashion.”
Boloria, both in its name and philosophy, suggests a metamorphosis. For Theyskens, it may be less about reinvention and more about continuity: a designer once drawn to darkness stepping into something quietly luminous, and once again reminding fashion what it can mean to make something truly beautiful.
