Fashion designer Dries Van Noten was born on May 12, 1958, in Antwerp, Belgium.

Growing up in a family that had run luxury boutiques since his grandfather's time, he experienced and studied the world of fashion from an early age. He entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp at the age of 18, graduating in 1981.

In 1986, he participated in an exhibition at the London Collection with fellow fashion students Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs, and Marina Yee. This sparked their interest in the fashion industry, and the six of them would later be known as the "Antwerp Six." However, three years earlier, these six designers, along with Martin Margiela, had won the '83 Golden Spool Competition, organized by the Gannet d'Or in Belgium to promote young Belgian designers. They received high praise from Jean Paul Gaultier, the chairman of the judging panel, and the Flemish government of Belgium supported the seven designers as top-ranking designers, marking the beginning of a breakthrough for Antwerp designers. Dries founded the brand in 1987. In 1989, the brand opened its flagship store, Het Modepaleis, in Antwerp, and its second store in Tokyo's Aoyama district, but closed in 2003. The brand subsequently partnered with Tomorrowland Co., Ltd. to open a second store in Aoyama in 2009. The brand also has directly operated stores in Paris, Singapore, Dubai, and other cities, and operates in over 400 cities worldwide. Dries participated in the Paris Collection in 1993. Now, as the brand celebrates its 25th anniversary, it continues to present its men's and women's collections at the Paris Collection.

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