Early Career
Raf Simons was born on 12 January 1968 in Neerpelt, in the province of Limburg, Belgium, to an army night watchman (Jacques Simons) and a house cleaner (Alda Beckers).
Simons graduated in Industrial Design and Furniture Design from a college in Genk during 1991. During this time, Simons congregated at Antwerp cafe Witzli-Poetzli with the likes of Olivier Rizzo, Willy Vanerperre, David Vandewal and then-girlfriend Veronique Branquinho to discuss fashion, namely Hemut Lang and Martin Margiela.
He began working as a furniture designer for various galleries, having previously interned at the design studio of Walter Van Beirendonck between 1991-1993.
Van Beirendonck took him to Paris Fashion Week and that was when Simons first saw a fashion show - Martin Margiela’s all-white show in 1991 - which inspired Simons to turn to fashion design.
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