Oliver Zeegers’s watchwords are ‘discussions, meetings, and networking…’ Passionate about human contact, this lover of beauty – founder of the Modesign Academy – is able to give a soul to luxury management. Here, he also pays wonderful homage to the lady who put him on the right path and inspired what he is now doing, between Paris and Brussels, Francine Pairon, founder of both La Cambre Mode(s) and the Design postgraduate course at IFM in Paris.
The perspective you have on the fashion sector is both pragmatic and enthusiastic. How did you come to work in this sector?
I have always loved beautiful things. I am fascinated by the moving body in particular and by clothing because it expresses a personality. Put like that, it may sound naïve, but it was the start of the adventure. At 22, at the end of my first academic course in political science, I felt too young to start out in working life. Even though, at heart, I have never really dreamt of designing dresses, I got the idea in mind to pass the La Cambre entrance exam…
What fascinated you so much in fashion?
It’s a sector that affects us every day, whoever we are. There’s nothing confidential about fashion. I like its general aspect – generality is one of my leitmotivs – and all the themes it embraces: from raw materials production to urban development led by the retail sector via the digital approach.
Did you really want to become a designer?
Not really, in fact. As early as the preparatory week for this entrance exam, I immediately felt that it was not for me. But I met someone: Francine Pairon, founder of La Cambre Mode(s), which she established in 1986, who is an incredible woman who dissuaded me from focusing on design, but who offered me the chance to second her in organising the La Cambre panel fashion show. I worked alongside students such as Olivier Theyskens and Laetitia Crahay. I think that in terms of talent, I couldn’t have met better people. In 1997, I won a place in a course at the Paris IFM. I obviously jumped at the chance.
The beginning of your Paris experience…
Discovering a city, the city where anything is possible and a school – the Institut Français de la Mode (French Institute of Fashion) – which gave me the necessary tools to start a career in luxury in Paris. In total, I spent six years there – including a few years at IFM as Francine Pairon’s right arm (she also pioneered the Accessories and clothing design postgraduate course in 1999) – before returning to Brussels for personal reasons.
And there, you started to dream of having a school to similar IFM in Belgium…
Yes, except that I still waited nearly ten years before making this idea a reality. Straightaway, my desire was to offer a course (six months of lessons and six months of internship, ed.) aimed at fashion lovers who wanted to work in a profession other than that of designer: product manager in the luxury sector, retail sector, or a position in communication or pure marketing. The specific feature of the academy is that it combines teaching given by professionals in the sector and a firm foundation in the product as such.
Explain to us…
Each year, we ask our Master’s students to create a luxury product, such as a bag in collaboration with Nina Bodenhorst from the Niyona studio, for example, from a craft approach. It’s a way of understanding the specific features of a luxury product from the inside.
And this teaching process does not stop there…
Students will create a pop-up store in which they will present this product, promote it, and sell it through a communication plan, a coherent price calculation, and an active sales approach… A 360° approach that we intend to be completely organic, in the image of our course. A programme of practical and theoretical lessons that – it’s important to emphasise – also involves coaching offered to our students until they find a job or an assignment that matches their expectations and their profile.
Within the Modesign Academy, you also offer lighter courses.
The Master’s is aimed, with exceptions, at under-35s who do not yet have a long career behind them. For others, we organise evening lessons, as well as summer programmes – including lessons given by experts, conferences, and boutique and studio visits, etc. – aimed at people from various backgrounds who wish to enhance their knowledge and discover certain facets of fashion management.
What is your future challenge for your Modesign Academy?
In this idea of generality that is so close to my heart, I would like to teach 50% foreign students in the different programmes. In addition to all the opportunities offered by our schools in terms of networking, the 150 Belgian and international speakers who visit the academy each year are a true portal to the luxury world.
What is your definition of luxury?
With this school, I do not have the ambition to sell a dream, but of giving students access to a profession. That being said, the dream is there. And a part of that dream is that I have the opportunity to meet passionate people every day. It’s my life!
By Marie Honnay
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