For some reason, Ghent has always danced on that sweet spot between underground and chique. In the ‘00s,this was the place where art, top models and nightlife collided on an international scale, now a buzzing artistic and culinary underbelly connects heritage with newness.
THIS IS WHERE THE SEXY, SMART AND FUN HANG OUT IN GHENT
But hey, don't take our word for it."The Flemish city is fizzing with art, design and entrepreneurship," notes Chris Allnutt in the Financial Times. "How Ghent became the coolest destination in Belgium."
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“The café I frequent the most is Terug, and the two new kids on the block that have caught my fancy are OhBoy & tds. An exciting space I’d love to visit (and I’ve heard good things about) is Roar. Also, while Morgen Bakkerij is more of a bakery than a specialty coffee spot, their coffee definitely makes it onto my favourites list. Plus, they have what I believe are simply the best pastries.”
"Originally from Kuala Lumpur, now a happy resident of Ghent, and a paper and caffeine aficionado, Caitlin Tan has moved countries, changed careers, said goodbye to old friends and hello to new ones. “Still figuring things out,” she laughs. “Everything is incredibly different. Back home, there’s always ‘more’. For example, we have five different bazaars to choose from over the weekend, cafés that turn into wine bars when the clock strikes six, 24-hour restaurants, and malls that stay open until 22:00. While I really do love the laid-backness of Ghent, I sometimes crave a little bit of noise. Regardless, we count ourselves lucky to have moved to a place that people can’t seem to take enough photos of. Everything here is just so picturesque. Ghent is quaint and, in its own way, perfect."
@withlovecaitlin_
“Our audience comes from all walks of life, across different ages, backgrounds, and interests, but there’s a shared curiosity that connects them,” notes Aimee of Objects & Sounds—a store on the recently transformed industrial Tondelier site, focusing on a curated selection of vinyl, cassettes, CDs, books, and objects.
“What we find interesting is how their interests overlap. Someone who comes in for a particular record might also be interested in a book, a scent, or a recommendation for a place to visit. Real, tangible things. The same crowd listening to Martin Brugger’s Music for Video Stores (the 2022 reissue) is just as easily drawn to incense sticks inspired by literature, places, and memories from Saan Saan, or multi-use, plant-based skincare by Mount Sapo. Our audience comes from all walks of life, across different ages, backgrounds, and interests, but there’s a shared curiosity that connects them. What we find interesting is how their interests overlap. Someone who comes in for a particular record might also be interested in a book, a scent, or a recommendation for a place to visit. Real, tangible things.”
“That tangibility is exactly where new luxury lives,” says pastry chef and chocolatier Joost Arijs.
With a bakery designed by @glenn.sestig, no-nonsense, no-fuss pralines and patisserie made with top-tier ingredients (if you only do one thing today, try the almond praliné praline with yuzu!), and a brand-new, immense experience hub in Sint-Denijs-Westrem, Arijs knows a thing or two about snackable luxury.
“When consumers scale back on major purchases, a tactile, affordable luxury becomes all the more appealing.” Arijs, who mastered his craft at patisserie Mahieu in Woluwe, Ducobu in Waterloo, and as head pastry chef at three-star Hof van Cleve, is both patissier and chocolatier. Beyond his flagship boutique and atelier in central Ghent, plus The Bakery by Joost Arijs for sourdough and viennoiserie, he launched an expansive new outpost in Sint-Denijs-Westrem this summer. “Life’s getting sweeter. And about 800m2 bigger,” he laughs. “It’s the ideal spot to scale up production, fully designed around the experience. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows give shoppers a front-row view of the entire process—right through to the tasting. A real place, real tastes.”A mandatory day trip for the refined epicurean.
Sorry Joost, we realise that the Piémont tart isborderline perfect, but a roughly cut sourdough slicewith an unassumingly generous layer of this OrangeMarmalade spread feels like Bach and Rosalía are throwinga party in my mouth. And thanks again for the ice creamat @wecandancefest this summer.
→ @joostarijs
THE NEIGHBORHOOD— CURATED BY THE INSTINCTOF INDEPENDENT ENTREPRENEURS AS CREATIVE DIRECTORS OF THESE TACTILE EXPERIENCES—HAS BECOME OUR PRIMARY THEATER OF SELF-EXPRESSION. ‘MACRO- STATUS’ (THE CITY YOU LIVE IN) HAS SHIFTED INTO ‘MICRO- TRIBALISM’ (THE SPECIFIC STREET CORNER YOU FREQUENT). GLOBAL CITIZENS NOW PRIORITIZE LOCAL BAKERIES AND ‘PAVEMENT CULTURE’ OVER NATIONAL GDP. THE SOURDOUGH BAKERIES, NEW-GEN MERCADOS, ARCHIVAL- AND BOOKSTORES, NEO-GASTRO PUBS AND LISTENING BARS YOU QUEUE UP FOR DEFINE THE TRIBE YOU WANT TO BELONG TO.
Fiona Rombauts, stylist and founder of Ghent’s Own It Vintage recognises a new, more diverse audience buying into vintage.
“The fact that we have quite a few regular clients over 45, a generation that used to be far more hesitant to buy vintage, illustrates a different, more fluid mentality. Our clients are brand-agnostic. They opt for archival pieces they can blend with contemporary wardrobes. Not as a uniform, but as a textural upgrade driven by quality, character, and aesthetics rather than just labels.”
Fiona.
@own.it.vintage
“That fixation on pedigree has filtered straight onto the shop floor,” notes Loes Vandemoortele of Ghent’s benchmark for luxury bags, shoes and accessories, Sevens.“The thrill of hunting down pieces with a history fuels a market for re-editions. That same in-the-know crowd eats up ‘90s and ‘00s heritage remakes—from the Fendi Baguette and Miu Miu’s ‘bubble sneaker’ to Balenciaga’s Le City bag, a personal favourite.”
With a new gallery in the Ghent city centre for rare, collectible, and historically significant books, prints, and vintage posters, founder Michiel of Maes Rare Books catches a new wave of collectors.
"Today, with AI and tools like ChatGPT taking over, that same pull toward physical print and human design returns."
Michiel.
Collector and bookseller-at-large Ewout De Cat sums up the curated selection of books and ephemera in his Out of Stock store as a mix between something you never knew you needed and something you’ve always been looking for. “My baseline would be the title of the 1947 Hans Richter film: Dreams That Money Can Buy.”
“I don’t think books or print in general ever went away, but you do see readers now straying from the canon and being confident in their own taste. This means more attention for writers and artists from the margins and a renewed appreciation for forgotten or misinterpreted artistic legacies. And there’s a renewed realisation that books are exceptional ways to carry and distribute information. As we are bombarded with images and information, print represents a certain reliability and consistency. This is especially true for art books. A good catalogue raisonné or monograph is still the best way to learn to read art.”
Ewout.
@outofstockbooks
Whether it’s the froth on a matcha or the grooming of a poodle, status is now derived from geospatial exclusivity. The perfect pastrami sandwich—make sure to snap our online special on the essential spots to devour the sandwich renaissance—almond croissant, archival Margiela Tabis, and Japanese vinyl act as beacons for high-net-worth 'culturalists' who prioritize curation over accessibility. This is the hardware of an aesthetic regime ensuring you only encounter people who share your specific cultural frequency.“We no longer choose a neighborhood; we opt into a physical feed,” notes Kyle Chayka in The New Yorker.