Marina Yee

Marina Yee (1958-2025) was a Belgian fashion designer and a founding member of the Antwerp Six, the group of designers who put Belgian fashion on the map. Vogue described her as the most elusive member of the Six, a reputation earned through her habit of stepping in and out of the industry. Her work is prized for its avant-garde, deeply personal approach rather than commercial polish.

The Antwerp Six was a group of influential Belgian designers who trained together at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and Marina Yee was one of its founding members. She left the group in 1988, relatively early, which only deepened her reputation as its most enigmatic figure. Her membership remains central to how her legacy is understood.

M.Y. Project is the body of work Marina Yee presented in 2018 when she resurfaced in Tokyo at the avant-garde vintage shop Laila, showing five new designs. It marked her first public output in more than a decade and kicked off a successful relaunch of her career. The collection focused on sustainable fashion, using second-hand fabrics sourced from vintage stores and flea markets.

Yes, sustainability runs through her practice. The M.Y. Project was built from second-hand fabrics gathered from vintage stores and flea markets, and as far back as 2003 she set up a studio in Brussels producing pieces from existing garments and second-hand fabrics. Her 2022 comeback collection of gender-inclusive pieces further cemented her as a pioneer in the field.

Because her career deliberately moved in and out of fashion rather than chasing constant visibility. Vogue itself gave her that description, and her 2018 return to the runway came after more than a decade away. She preferred working outside mass-produced collections to protect her identity as a designer.

She did. In 2024 Marina Yee received the Jury Prize at the Belgian Fashion Awards, honoured for her timeless designs and artistic versatility. The award recognized both her role in the Antwerp Six and her 2022 comeback with gender-inclusive pieces. It was a fitting acknowledgement of a long, unconventional career.

She was born in Temse, Belgium, on 17 April 1958. She began her training at the Sint-Lucas Institute in Hasselt before continuing at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where she remained until 1981 and met the other members of the Antwerp Six. That Antwerp schooling is the shared root of the whole group.

Yee favoured creating outside mass-produced collections, emphasizing the importance of keeping her identity as a designer intact. She described her approach with the word prutskous, a term reflecting a playful, experimental engagement with the creative process rather than commercial objectives. That spirit is why her pieces feel handmade and singular.

Yee had a professional and personal relationship with fellow designer Martin Margiela, whom she met in 1975 at Sint-Lucas in Genk. The connection links two of the most thoughtful figures in Belgian fashion. It's one of several threads that tie her closely to the wider Antwerp design world.

Yes. Early on she received backing from partners and designed a collection titled Marie for the label Hobo, though she later said it did not fully reflect her own vision. Between 2000 and 2002 she designed women's collections for Dirk Bikkembergs, and in 1999 she created a winter collection for the Belgian brand Lena Lena. These commissions sit alongside her more personal, self-directed work.