Light glowed through an open window, and trees swayed. Ann Demeulemeester’s FW21 presentation was a quiet portrait. Of who? The original founder herself.

Under new ownership –  Italian fashion retailer Claudio Antonioli – the collection paid homage to the member of the Antwerp Six with close interpretations of her archive. The black suits, the white shirts. Wool hats and wild hair like Patti Smith. With design principles so purist, it’s the sensibility that makes a pair of trousers an Ann Demeulemeester pair of trousers. Worn-in silhouettes that sway with straps and fall effortlessly.

It’s poetry in motion, and indeed, the original Belgian designer was influenced by such angst-ridden art as Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal and Truffaut’s L’Enfant sauvage. These references subtly petered through the new collection. There was no grey area here. It was Ann Demeulemeester in black and white.