On a recent afternoon, the designer Dries Van Noten sat in the sprawling old warehouse that houses his Antwerp headquarters, with its bare concrete walls, vintage oak cupboards and views over the city’s harbor. He was altering a jacket for his coming men’s wear show: a nip here, a seam moved there. Then, Mr. Van Noten said, a member of his team pointed out that it was the last piece of the men’s collection this season. As Mr. Van Noten recounted later, “I said, ‘That’s not the last piece of the men’s collection: It’s the last piece of my career.’”In March, six years after selling the company he founded in 1986 to Puig, the Spanish luxury group, Mr. Van Noten, 66, did something truly rare in fashion: He announced his retirement. This men’s wear show, next Saturday in Paris, will be his last.

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Persons: Van Noten, “, ‘ That’s, ’ ”, Puig, Patrick Vangheluwe Locations: Antwerp, Spanish, Paris, Amalfi Coast, Italy