Nele Bernheim provides an overview of the fashion trade in Belgium during the war. Almost fully occupied by the Germans, who fought some of their bloodiest battles on Belgian land, the country was severely crippled by the war. Locked in for fifty months, countless Belgians were reliant on charity for food and clothing. Despite this, there was a constituency for fashion. Some couture houses remained open—and even newly opened, some fashion magazines continued publication—and even started publishing. The Belgian fashion industry that continued to thrive was at the crossroads of French, German, and Austrian influence. Bernheim investigates the beginning of Norine Couture, a Belgian fashion house that was founded during the war by Paul-Gustave Van Hecke and his companion Honorine (Norine) Deschryver. Ultimately, Bernheim argues that Norine Couture can be considered the first genuine Belgian fashion house and was a precursor of the Belgian avant-garde designer fashion of today.