IN THE FRAME:

BERNADETTE

Their silk dresses transcend generations. Meet the design duo

behind the breakout brand from Antwerp.

by Rachel Hodin

The idea of starting a business with your mother or daughter may sound like a minefield to some, but for Bernadette and Charlotte De Geyter, it was a no-brainer.

At the heart of Bernadette, the Belgian duo’s Antwerp-based label, is their medium of choice: silk. Inviting and endlessly comfortable, the fabric tends to inspire feelings of warmth and intimacy—a spirit that happens to define not only the brand, but the mother-daughter duo’s tight-knit, indelible bond as well.

Bernadette has always been drawn to silk; she’s been collecting vintage nightgowns and lingerie for decades now and has instilled in Charlotte a similar appreciation. “We really like the idea of women layering different pieces of silk, like a silk dress worn under a silk robe and then finishing it with a nice piece of jewelry,” Charlotte explains. Plus, Charlotte says, there’s something inherently Belgian about the material. “Belgians love to enjoy life,” she says, “And that’s what we want the collection to reflect: it’s comfortable, but it’s also like a treat.”

To ensure that each piece feels like a special delicacy, they spent a long time sourcing the highest-quality silk fabrics. Eventually, they landed on a factory in Italy that specializes in 100% silk as well as a slightly stretchy silk satin. Everything else—from design and print conception to production and manufacturing—is done locally in Antwerp. “We like to keep it close and have a good communication with everyone,” says Charlotte.

Luxury fabrics form the bedrock of the label, but the vibrant colors and unique prints are what bring Bernadette’s designs to life. The latter is developed in-house by Charlotte, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, who likes to leaf through books of botanical paintings for inspiration. When that’s not enough, she and her mother take refuge in Mont-roig del Camp, a small village south of Barcelona where Bernadette’s parents have a home and which Bernadette and Charlotte grew up visiting regularly. “Joan Miró lived there his entire life, so it’s a special small village, with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other,” Bernadette says. “There’s really nothing to do there,” adds Charlotte. “But that’s the amazing thing about it.”