BRUSSELS: Europes capital city is showing off its colourful and lively side during the year of Fashion and Design 2006.
Fashion shows, studio tours and design exhibitions are taking place during the course of the year.
The showplaces include Brussels fashion districts such as the modest looking Rue Dansaert, trendy bistros, bars and exclusive designer hotels.
A few events are also planned for some of the less visited areas of the Belgian capital.
The Christophe Coppens store, 36 Place du Nouveau Marche aux Grains, is a colourful and varied world of hats, hats and more hats with masks, wax candles and animal sculptures thrown in.
It is as diverse as Brussels fashion scene, the home of which is a stones throw away in the Rue Dansaert.
The street is 800 metres long and located between the Place de la Bourse and the Canal Bruxelles-Charleroi.
At first glance, it looks very unassuming and not as grand as Europes other fashion centres.
Right up until the 1980s, Rue Dansaert was an ordinary thoroughfare in the middle of a run-down district.
Then Brussels authorities decided to renovate the area and slowly a fashion scene took hold.
The first design shop to open in Rue Dansaert in 1984 was called "Stijl" and belonged to Sonja Noel. Today, one fashion store jostles against the next like pearls on a necklace.
At least 35 businesses selling extravagant womens fashion and accessories have settled in the Dansaert area.
"Everything here is within walking distance for visitors," said Linda van Waesberge, the spokeswoman for Modo Bruxellae, an association responsible for promoting fashion in Brussels.
"Its very easy for young designers to be creative in Brussels. Brussels is a multi-cultural metropolis where residents speak several languages such as French, Flemish and English," said van Waesberge.
From her office in Lepagestraat on the edge of the Dansaert district, she is preparing for the upcoming Fashion Trail 2006 due to take place from October 27 to 29.
Sixty fashion designers will present their latest creations and collections during the three-day event.
The Fashion Trail is also a good opportunity for visitors to get to know areas off the beaten track.
Some of the citys creative fashion designers meet in secluded courtyards, storerooms, apartments and former churches to dance and listen to music.
Modo Bruxellae is also planning four elaborate fashion shows during the summer months at the Palace of Justice, on the Grand Place outside the town hall, at the Heysel football stadium and even in a historic tramcar.
About 400 people study in Brussels five academies of which La Cambre in the Avenue Louise has achieved most international recognition.
Their training focuses on textile, industrial and interior design. Clothing and interior design are also the main areas of interest for designers Laurent Uyttersprot, 28, and Pascal Di Pietro Martinelli, 30.
They have been making clothes for well-heeled women since they founded their label "Mademoiselle Lucien" in 1998.
Two years ago, they caused a scandal when Belgians Princess Claire wore an audacious dress deigned by the pair on Belgiums national day.
Their showroom is located in an inconspicuous residential street in the district of Ixelles where visitors are presented with haute couture evening dresses made from luxurious silk, damask and brocade.
"The term Made in Brussels is gaining in importance as a sign of creative fashion excellence," says Laurent Uyttersprot of the capitals vibrant fashion business.
But clothing is no longer the main form of design coming out of Brussels. Interior design and extravagant furniture styles are also gaining prominence.
Designers from across Europe created 10 "Fashion Rooms" in the luxury Hotel Royal Windsor.
"In the suite designed by Mademoiselle Lucien, the guests are submerged in an oriental and Art Deco theme," says Uyttersprot.
