Seventeen creations made from second-hand items and clothing will grace the atrium of the Council’s Justus Lipsius building during Belgium’s six-month Presidency. Brussels decided to highlight the importance that it will place on social aspects over the coming six months, as well as Belgian creativity, via dummies dressed from clothing ferreted out at the Petits Riens. The exhibition, ‘Fashion & design – Second hand second life’, was inaugurated on 1 July, in the presence of the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Steven Vanackere and Secretary of State for European Affairs Olivier Chastel, as well as representatives from the three Belgian communities (French, Flemish and German-speaking), and the Petits Riens, a non profit-making organisation, which collects, sorts and resells second-hand items throughout Belgium in order to finance numerous social projects designed to help the homeless and needy families. The exhibition showcases the work of eleven stylists and six creations by Belgian designers.