FALLING IN LOVE WITH COLOUR

As one half of the creative talent behind bold Belgian fashion brand Essentiel Antwerp, Inge Onsea reveals how she totally reimagined her city apartment to match her own eclectic tastes

- BECKY DONALDSON

Bursting with energy, Inge Onsea bounds into the Essentiel Antwerp store in London's Sloane Square, the vibrant heart of the fashion label she co-founded just over 25 years ago.

Despite the Belgian brand's global reach - it is now in more than 40 countries, with around 40 standalone stores – Inge remains refreshingly down-to-earth, greeting the sales assistants by name and radiating the same warmth and energy that helped build the brand from the ground up.

After we preview the spring/summer 2025 collection, which Inge wears in this exclusive photoshoot, the businesswoman, who is very much the face of her label, tells HELLO! about her recently renovated three-storey apartment in Antwerp’s Graanmarkt Square, where the shoot takes place.

The building, which dates from 1870 and has an eclectic architectural style including neoclassical and art nouveau influences, sits directly opposite Essentiel Antwerp’s headquarters, which is convenient for Inge’s vast archive of clothes.

“Having everything close by is a real advantage,” she says. “I have an entire floor in the building just for my wardrobe. Every couple of months, I go through it and pull pieces out – I've got the most incredible Thierry Muglers and Yohji Yamamoto pieces in there.”

UNPLANNED SUCCESS

The 55-year-old creative director tells us that when she and her now former husband Esfan Eghtessadi, a French-Iranian former wholesales manager for classic Belgian brand Mer Du Nord and the son of designer Nicole Cadine, launched Essentiel Antwerp, it was “without a plan”.