With this ambitious exhibition, the designer embarks on a new passion project.&nbsp;

It’s dangerous to meet your heroes. All it takes is one moment—a rude comment to a waiter, unchecked narcissism, or a suspicious aversion to showers—to shatter years of rock-solid admiration. Among the rare exceptions is <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/dries-van-noten-career-fashion-shows-history-brand-bio-designer">Dries Van Noten</a>. In 2024, the Belgian designer stepped down as creative director of the brand he founded, nurtured, and grew with unwavering dedication for 38 years, even after its sale to Puig in 2018. He is a figure of remarkable consistency in thought, vision, and action, all underpinned by genuine understatement.
“My dream was to have a voice in fashion [and] that dream came true. Now, I want to shift my focus to all the things I never had time for,” he wrote in a farewell letter to the fashion world. After a lifetime spent crafting collections that were polite yet anarchic, whispered yet rebellious, colorful yet austere—and always, unfailingly, drop-dead chic—he could easily have devoted himself entirely to his great passion for gardening, leaving the rest of the world behind.&nbsp;
Instead, he and his partner, Patrick Vangheluwe, brought another longstanding passion project to life: buying a palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice and dedicating it to craftsmanship, creativity, and art. And so, Palazzo Pisani Moretta became the home of Fondazione Dries Van Noten, which opened its inaugural exhibition, The Only True Protest Is Beauty,&nbsp;in April. Co-curated by Van Noten and Geert Bruloot, it runs alongside the 61st Venice Art Biennale and will remain open to the public until October 4.
Built in the mid-15th century in the Venetian Gothic style and reinvented in the Rococo style, the palazzo features a monumental staircase and frescoed ceilings—painted in part by 18th-century masters such as Giambattista Tiepolo—and is infused with Van Noten and Vangheluwe’s refined but never-predictable eye for fashion, photography, art, and design.

Garments by Rei Kawakubo on display in Palazzo Pisani Moretta. Photos by Camilla Glorioso and Matteo De Maida, courtesy of Fondazione Dries.

With the interplay of light and shadow, the spirit of the palazzo itself interacts with the exhibition, a celebration that moves beyond virtuosity to focus on the emotions it evokes. This is the foundation’s true purpose: to inspire a different vision of creativity, success, and the future. “Reclaiming a more human pace, recognizing the power of handmade work, and rediscovering a deeper way of feeling—these are the ideas we hope to convey,” says Van Noten. “A city like Venice compels you to slow down. I think about the way today’s fashion system is transforming everything into one massive business. I have been on the inside—I know its beauty, but also its horror—and I believe there is room for a gentle revolution, one that places technology at the service of imagination. We want to show that there are many ways to make one’s mark—and that differences create value.”
Van Noten places art and craftsmanship, past and present, and concept and passion on equal footing, scattering throughout the exhibition garments by Christian Lacroix and Comme des Garçons. Asked why he didn’t include a single piece of his own, he calmly replies, “I’m no longer a fashion designer.”
“Patrick and I created the foundation because we felt the need to show the world the importance of craftsmanship—especially when artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly dominant,” says Van Noten. “Making something with your hands, your heart, and your mind is more important today than ever before, but that doesn’t mean rejecting progress— only refusing to be overwhelmed by it. I’m reminded of a project where, thanks to digital photography, we captured the imperfect charm of the flowers in our garden outside Antwerp. Nature constantly challenges the standards of conventional beauty, and technology helped us tell that story.”

The palazzo’s exterior and rooms throughout the space. Photos by Camilla Glorioso and Matteo De Maida, courtesy of Fondazione Dries Van Noten.

Another key principle of the foundation is redefining the idea of success. “Young people need to stand out; they need to cultivate their own vision. Yet I find myself wondering how necessary it really is to seek recognition on a global scale. It seems everyone wants to conquer the world—but why not focus instead on your circle of friends, your neighborhood, your city? Perhaps we are indeed returning to a smaller scale—to the act of making something specifically for a single client.”
The exhibition’s title is inspired by the words of American singer-songwriter and activist Phil Ochs: “In such ugly times, beauty is the only form of protest.” What began as a temporary working title eventually became permanent, “because as we moved forward, the ugliness of the world we live in made it necessary,” explains the designer, who prioritizes education as another urgent issue.
“We want to [collaborate] with different institutions to spark enthusiasm in people studying a craft who may not yet fully see its creative potential. And we’re not focusing only on superstars, because artisanal work is a powerful tool for overcoming vulnerabilities. Even those who are unsure of which path to take, or who perhaps struggle to conform to a certain educational model, can find their true calling in a workshop.”

The palazzo’s rooms throughout the space. Photos by Camilla Glorioso and Matteo De Maida, courtesy of Fondazione Dries Van Noten.

Palazzo Pisani Moretta will close after the exhibition to begin restoration work. “We couldn’t miss the opportunity to engage with the Biennale audience, so we postponed the interventions needed to best preserve the building,” says Vangheluwe.
Van Noten personally covered the initial investment, later planning for admission fees and sponsorships—including support from Puig, with whom the designer continues to collaborate on beauty and fragrance—to ensure the foundation’s healthy growth. “I chose partners capable of respecting the spirit of this new adventure,” Van Noten says with a smile.

Dries Van Noten Champions Art, Craftsmanship, and Creativity With A New Venice Foundation

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