Suicide and mental health in fashion classrooms

A recent media outlet exposé questioned the “toxic environment” of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, and in particular, the teaching methods of its head of fashion department and third year instructor, Walter Van Beirondonck, made chilling reading following the March suicide of one of its fashion students. But while the tragic end to the young person’s life is justifiably where most readers’ thoughts turned, as a fashion instructor I couldn’t help feeling an empathy for Van Beirondonck in this sensationalized piece of journalism. Under a veil of anonymity, a parade of former and current students leveled accusations of torment, intimidation, and racism towards him and his program, so that, at best, he came off as a sort of villainous reality TV-show judge, wielding his power blithely and viciously, at worst, a tyrant with blood on his hands.