Better late than never… what an incredible time was had at the latest Creative Social gathering, even if it was a bit short.!
Not only is Antwerp STUNNING, the venue amazing and the company of wonderful and talented friends utterly enjoyable; the speakers that These Days organised were top-notch.

First up was “That’s me that Is”, where CDs spend 5 minutes each showing the best piece of brand-spanking-new or just-to-be-launched work. Accompanied by the lovely Theo, we presented the D&AD New Blood piece. The rest of teh work can he seen here, and included some awesome live-concert-to-banner pieces.

Next, Reginald Van de Velde – passionate Urban exploration (Urbex) photographer (and designer at These Days). Look it up. In short he documents places that everyone else has chosen to leave behind and quite simply this leads to fascinating photography where every picture has a story.
Here’s Reginald’s site, http://www.suspiciousminds.com/ and here’s an overview of his conquests.
“Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints…”

Second speaker was the AMAZING Muriel Scherre – leading lady of cult lingerie label La Fille d’O. She turned the Belgian fashion scene upside down with her sexy and sensual collections, and her provocative book, Lingerie & Lollipops. What started as a home industry is now an international business. Scherre’s take on femininity is seductive and humorous, and her love of life is utterly infectious. Taking it’s name from Pauline Reage’s infamous erotic book L’Histoire d’O, La Fille d’O is a brand that has fun, throws sensational parties, is locally made and engages unusual marketing. Her self made Facebook group ‘I hate Murielle Scherre’ is a good start.
More on Murielle and La Fille d’O

Third speaker was Belgium’s premier current-affairs-come-humour daily TV show Man Bites Dog. After 10 years it remains one of Belgium’s most loved TV shows. Content rich, it digs up bizarre and often tragic-comical stories, but always real, always human and always respectful for both the audience and for the people they interview.
Elke Neuville is editor of the show and joined us to share her experiences and some of the stories. She also offered us some insight into their network of story touch points, the places they find these colourful characters.
Here’s a couple:

The final speaker for the day was food scientist Bernard Lahousse, an internationally renowned collaborator with the likes of Heston Bumenthal,he’s leading the way in the molecular kitchen. Bernard is also one of The Flemish Primitives, a group of well-known chefs that meet, share and criticise each others work. Bernard presented his theory of food pairing, molecular gastronomy and new kitchen techniques. He talked about the concepts of coupling and replacing ingredients based on their chemical components. And we got to be the guinea pigs.

Finally for the day, the Round Tables, where we discussed how we could bring Muriel’s passion and zest to our own work. We decided we needed to share more openly with each other and our clients (job swaps anyone?), force your staff (and yourself) to challenge safe zones, and to have multiple orgasms daily .

Then to dinner, where the only Antwerp chef of The Flemish Primitives, Roger Van Damme, opened his restaurant especially for us. Situated in Antwerp’s botanical herb garden, Lunch lounge Het Gebaar is where Roger van Damme, Belgium’s most innovative pastry chef, serves up his magic. And what magic it was! See the video of him experimenting in the dining room here, and check out the picture below: