Fashion Designers And Their Muses Through The Decades

Ann Demeulemeester and Patti Smith

It's not hard to see the influence of the godmother of punk in any of Demeulemeester's dark, rough, and rock'n'roll collections. The Belgian designer began her inspirational love affair with Smith, who she not only calls her muse, but her "soul mate," when she was just 16 and purchased Smith's first album Horses on a whim.

The androgynous musician intrigued her and would serve as the soundtrack to her first runway show in 1991, after which Demeulemeester wrote to Smith and sent her a white shirt from the collection. This interaction launched a five-year correspondence between the two, before they finally met after one of Smith's shows in Belgium.

The kindred spirits have since become close friends and have joined forces for two of Demeulemeester's collections—Spring/Summer 2000, entitled "Woolgathering" after Smith's autobiographical novel of the same name, and Fall/Winter 2006 menswear, where Smith made an appearance on the runway.

On her creative relationship with Smith, the designer has said,

"Patti has always been part of my universe but I don't want to vulgarize our contact, which is really magical and beautiful. It's almost sacred to me, which is why I never talk about it in the press. Please don't reduce our friendship to a trouser or a skirt.''

[Photo, Smith and Demeulemeester via, Smith via]