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The Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten has decided to step down as creative director of the brand that bears his name at the end of June, leaving behind an admired and successful business, a body of work that remains inspiring and distinct, and a relationship with his customers that is playful, invigorating and above all, respectful. He steps away at 65, in the midst of high acclaim, while his creativity is undimmed and his possibilities still seem endless, to make way for a new generation and to do the things for which he hasn’t had time.

Van Noten leaves a breathtaking legacy in fashion. But no matter one’s industry, his example of beauty, dignity and restraint is truly something extraordinary to behold.

Unlike so many other fashion houses, Van Noten built his business on ready-to-wear — not shoes or handbags or perfumes, even though he sells all those things and they are quite nice. His is an honest fashion company, which is to say that the menswear and womenswear that he sends down his runways is precisely what he presented to store buyers in his showroom, which was exactly what turned up on the racks at Barneys New York, Relish, Selfridges, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue or one of his own boutiques. Sitting at one of his shows, one never had to wonder: Who wears these clothes? They thrived in the wild.

He didn’t sell buzz or controversy or bull. He made wearable clothes that were dynamic and captivating enough for the runway. He made runway collections that were commercial enough for folks to live their lives in. His menswear and womenswear existed in harmony with each other. His clothes weren’t genderless, but they allowed for the ebb and flow of masculinity and femininity without fanfare or self-consciousness.

Van Noten’s runway shows were a joy to behold, not because they were crafted around extravagant sets that looked as though they’d come from a Hollywood back lot or because he gave guests an exhausting intellectual workout. Sometimes, he’d show his explosively colorful collections against backdrops of disintegrating architecture, spare warehouses or historical architecture. Other seasons, his models would walk through the lavish rooms at the Hôtel de Ville. His favorite set decorations were flowers. (He is a devoted gardener.) One of his most memorable shows was a dinner party during which the single, long table transformed into a runway.

His presentations accomplished something rare and impressive: they appealed to the emotions. He made a person want to wear his clothes with an intensity beyond reason. And the wonder of it all was that such desire could be fulfilled. The clothes would be produced. (Too often, they are not.) They would be in stores. And while their prices might make a shopper — one privileged enough to dabble in this one-percenter merchandise — flinch; they wouldn’t make one weep.

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So often, in conversations with designers whose brands were still new and their continued existence uncertain, they described the kind of business they hoped to build, and in doing so, they would point to Van Noten’s. His was an independent brand that didn’t rely on advertising to sell its goods. The designer had no celebrity muses, no socialite benefactors, no influencer ambassadors. And when his clothes turned up on the red carpet, they always told a story of individuality with a hint of eccentricity.

Van Noten created his own fashion vocabulary that he used each season to say something personal and distinctive. As silhouettes shifted and new trends appeared, Van Noten accommodated them but always within his own vernacular. There are no Dries Van Noten logos and yet his garments are readily identifiable simply by the drape of a skirt, the fabric in a jacket, the mix of prints or the color palette. His skirts and dresses often have the easy flow of a sarong. His jackets come in pinstripes and plaids with a formal cut that’s never constricting. He mixes florals and stripes and sparkling paillettes; his colors are always a bit murky as if they’ve been aged in the sun or through time. Over the years, he engaged in an aesthetic conversation with his customers, certain shapes or flourishes would reappear; prior collections didn’t become obsolete, they were simply earlier chapters in an ongoing story.

In fashion, people like to refer to labels such as Dior, Givenchy, Gucci or Chanel as legacy brands. They’ve been around for a hundred years and while they’ve all experienced their ups and downs, they’ve lasted, in part, because of essential ideas that have continued to be relevant and desirable and because of management that has been able to adapt to changing technology, lifestyles and cultural values. Since 1986, when Van Noten launched his label, the fashion industry has been watching a legacy brand plant its roots in real time.

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Van Noten stepped onto the stage as part of a group of young designers referred to as the Antwerp Six. They came along when fashion was focused on big shoulders, poofy skirts and the louche swagger of an Armani suit. Their work was less formal, somewhat deconstructed and more personal. Van Noten built his brand slowly in an era before conglomerates such as LVMH and Kering began swallowing promising young brands and talented young designers.

In 2018, Van Noten sold the majority interest in his company to the Spanish conglomerate Puig. It focused mostly on beauty, but its fashion arm included Jean Paul Gaultier and Carolina Herrera. At the time, Van Noten had estimated revenue around $100 million. After the sale, his company expanded into beauty. New stores opened. But the feeling of the collections remained the same. The aesthetic story continued without interruption and without dilution.

The brand always seemed adventurous and ambitious but not ravenous. It didn’t try to satisfy all tastes. It continued to stage four runway shows each season: two menswear and two womenswear. Van Noten didn’t fall prey to fashion’s insatiable appetites that have designers creating dozens of collections a year and mounting extravaganzas around the world. He isn’t a throwback. He simply saw a different way forward.

For a designer whose great skill is in combining a multitude of colors and patterns in ways that were lavish and indulgent, he also developed a talent for being able to calmly and happily say, enough. It’s a remarkable sentiment in these insatiable times.

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