Did you scream like a girl when you found out you won the Swiss Textiles Award?

I probably did. It was an important moment because of the honor and recognition. It's amazing how many people know of this prize. It seems to get more and more attention each year.

What did you do with the loot?

I invested the money in the production and PR of my winter collection and the show itself. It was 100,000 euros I could spend on the business. I couldn't buy myself a Porsche or go on holiday.

But if you could've spent it on anything, what would you be the proud owner of now?

I probably would have bought an apartment in Antwerp.

That's very sensible. Let's talk about the line, which is unabashedly girly.

I work in quite feminine shapes and flowy fabrics. It's very fresh, young and, yes, girly.

And you can't get much girlier than knits. How did you become interested in that?

I've been knitting since I graduated from the Academy in Antwerp. There's a freedom you have with knits. It's so satisfying to start from a thread of yarn and make something three-dimensional. You can create something from nothing. There are no limits. Now I am a teacher of knits at the Academy in Antwerp and I freelance as a knitwear consultant for commercial brands.

What's the craziest thing you've knitted?

Dresses with sequins knitted into them. For one dress, it took fifteen days of knitting by hand, but I didn't do it myself.

How do you come up with your ideas?

I just have a feeling, then I try to illustrate that feeling using documents or books. I research by watching movies or going to the library and exploring books. We have a very good fashion library here in Antwerp. I try to find images that show what I already have in mind. Last season I was inspired by the Middle Ages, specifically the story of Tristan and Iseult. So I went to Brugge and Ghent, two old cities in Belgium with these very old houses built in a medieval style.

What's been the highest point so far?

Fashion shows are always a high point, but I couldn't say which of the three shows I've done has been the highest. The Swiss Award was definitely up there, too, also because my family and my boyfriend were there.

And the lowest point?

There have been many times after Paris Fashion Week when I'm exhausted and fed up with fashion, but then I have to sell the collection. The winter collection was an especially horrible moment. I didn't sleep for two or three weeks, only one or two hours a night. I didn't even sleep in a bed; I slept on the floor in the showroom.

That's brutal. Is it more difficult to work in Paris?

It's an old-fashioned way of working. They stick to tradition, which gets very tiring. But in Antwerp people do what they feel like. It's like a village. I love the freedom here.

Originally you're from Brussels. What brought you to Antwerp?

To study. When I was a teenager, I really admired the Antwerp Six designers. I was a big fan of people like Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten and Martin Margiela. I still am.

Was it intentional to move away from the somber look ascribed to Belgians, to push the boundaries?

Yes, I wanted to work against that image of Belgian design and work more with colors. I think using color is very difficult. Doing all black is, in a way, less risky. It's a challenge to make color combinations without looking too kitschy. But I think every Antwerp designer is different. I don't think Dries is somber or sad. Of course there some designers who are conceptual or intellectual, like Martin Margiela. But on the other hand you have people like Walter van Beirendonck, who uses color and prints which are not so intellectual, and Bernhard Willhelm, who, even though he's not Belgian, is part of the Antwerp Academy.

Where did your interest in fashion come from?

I don't know. I come from a very unfashionable family. My parents are not at all in the business. It was something totally new for me to discover fashion when I was a teenager, though I always like to dress up as a child.

Who did you dress up as? I'm seeing Shirley Temple.

(Laughs.) No. I remember there was a cowboy costume that I wore at a carnival. And I had a pink panther costume when I was ten or eleven. When I was fourteen or fifteen I came to Antwerp and went to my first fashion show at the Antwerp Academy. It had a very big impact on me because in school I had no classes with an artistic direction. So when I gradated from high school, I took the entrance exam and got accepted.

So you were always turned on by art, but weren't exposed to it in school?

Yes, definitely. I grew up in quite a cultivated family, if I can say so. My father really loves classic music, and art and architecture. From a very young age we went on holiday to Italy and Greece to visit churches and monuments. My grandmother was a painter. I regularly went to exhibits and cultural things as a teenager.

Your family must be your biggest fans.

Yes, they're really interested and proud. They follow everything. It's cute to see how much my father, who didn't know anything about clothes or fashion, just loves it now. Five years ago he wouldn't know the difference between silk and leather, now he's so much more knowledgeable. He really has opinions. He's more critical when he sees other peoples' things he thinks are bad. He's protective that way.

Do you think you'll be rich one day?

No, I don't think so. It's not my calling. I think I'm the type of person who can be happy without being rich. I'm already satisfied with my work, but still I know that I can do better if I spend more time on it, or could go deeper.

What would you do if you could go deeper?

Um, probably learn more knitting techniques.