A fashion label as a multigenerational project? Vogue met the mother-daughter duo Bernadette and Charlotte de Geyter

"I was the one who came up with the idea of ​​collaborating with my mother," says Charlotte de Geyter in her studio in Harmonie. Like her mother, she's wearing a floor-length skirt from her own summer collection. On the meeting table—of course—is a large bouquet of flowers. The upcoming fall/winter collection hangs on the clothes racks. Bernadette recently showed it at the first runway show at Paris Fashion Week.

The mother: the fashion icon

Bernadette de Geyter (60), the namesake, is no stranger to the Belgian fashion scene. Since 2011, she has been selling oversized mohair knitwear under the label "Made by Bernadette." As a buyer, she worked at Ralph Lauren, among others, a formative experience for her. Just like the American fashion designer, Bernadette de Geyter strives to create a style cosmos that extends beyond the closet. Thus, Bernadette's pattern can be found on a dress, a coffee mug, or a pillow.

The floral Bernadette aesthetic is omnipresent in Bernadette de Geyter's townhouse. As a single mother, Bernadette de Geyter has always had a close bond with her children—and their children with her. From an early age, they spent a lot of time with their mother in the boutiques of Brussels, Ghent, and Antwerp. Later, both of them, including her brother, ended up in fashion. Bernadette is the quieter of the design duo, "but she's definitely the bolder one of us," as her daughter reveals.

Charlotte de Geyter (32) is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Few schools are as artistically demanding—and as successful. The academy has produced fashion greats such as the "Antwerp Six" around Walter Van Beirendonck and the German designer Stephan Schneider, transforming Antwerp from a diamond and trading city into a fashion capital. "The years at university were very intense," says Charlotte de Geyter. Here, the designer not only found her style, but also her great love, the Belgian artist Ben Sledsens. "At university, I thought I wanted to work for a major house like Prada later on," says Charlotte, but after graduating and an internship at Simone Rocha in London, she finally founded the company with her mother: "We have a close connection. My mother has always been my fashion role model, simply because of the way she combined individual pieces." She, in turn, calls her daughter a daily inspiration.

Barely finished with her internship, Charlotte de Geyter moved back home, then still into the house on the outskirts of Antwerp. She opened her mother's archive, discovered vintage designer pieces, lots of lingerie, and lots of embroidery—and spent days painting the plants in the huge garden and developing prints from them. In 2018, the first collection was ready: eight long, colorful silk dresses with large, botanical prints, sold exclusively at Net-A-Porter.