- Miss Belgium 2008 Alizee Poulicek made headlines in Vietnam with her famous Belgian specialty "mussels and fries" - dress when she walked onto the Miss Universe stage.
- Because of his previous success, the organisation of "De Nacht van Exclusief" approached him again in 2006 to design another gown that captured the splendor of the exclusive event. Ellen Petri wore the resulting dress, embellished with black and naturally coloured diamonds and referring to a masked ball.
- Having already designed for his parents' company in the previous years, he started using his own name as a label and the brand NICKY VANKETS was born.
- The Miss Belgium organization asked Nicky to design the evening gowns for the their miss to wear at the Miss Universe and Miss World elections.
- When Kim Clijsters, one of the top tennis players in the world asked him to design her wedding dress, Nicky Vankets' name was suddenly in the world press. He designed the garmets for the entire bridal party, both male and female.
- In 2004, Nicky won "World's top designer" at the Miss World election for the dress he made for Ellen Petri.
- 2008 opened with something nobody expected, as Nicky was asked by car manufacturer Nissan to restyle their Micra model into the must-have fashion accessory for women. The press headlines all screamed: "Nicky Vankets opens the International Brussels Car Show 2008".
- In 2009 Nicky realized his longtime dream and opened his first flagship store in the fashionable shopping city of Hasselt, Belgium. One year later, he did the same in Belgium's fashion capital Antwerp.
- In 2005, the Belgian Government commissioned Nicky to open the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week and that same year he had the opportunity to create one of the most expensive gowns in the world for "De Nacht van Exclusief". For this exclusive event, Nicky created the famous spider dress, designed around a spider web holding 2,476 diamonds, worth more than 1.5 million Euros.
- In 2007, Nicky designed again the eyecather dress for the "Nacht van Exclusief", holding more than 6,000 coloured pearls and over 16 yards of pure silk, inspired by the roaring twenties.
- Starting with designing wedding dresses, he soon was bursting with creativity and new collections and new lines sprung from his imagination. The Belgian entertainment industry noticed the young designer's talent and Nicky started designing for musicians and other celebrities.
- Playing with Barbie dolls while his friends played outside and hanging out in the ateliers of the house of Mathyro surrounded by fabrics, scissors and needles, he fell in love with fashion.
- In 2006, Nicky designed a red and gold dress for one of the original and greatest divas in the world: Barbie.
- After the disappointment of being declined admission to the Royal Academy of Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, he decided to take a chance and move to London. He told his mother he wanted to study at the same school as Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano.
- At 18, he moved into his London apartment near Waterloo Station and began studying at the London College of Fashion. Four years later in 2001, he presented his Final Assessment Project on the catwalk of London Fashion Week and graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Design and Technology for the Fashion Industry.
- Returning home after college in London, Nicky dreamed about going global and started applying at the most famous designer houses in the world. In 2002, he managed to get an appointment with the HR department of Armani and they advised him to use his knowledge to start his own label and brand. After much thought, Nicky decided to take their advice.
- Petra de Groodt, a Belgian model, was given a worlds top designer price for Vankets designs at the Model of the Universe competition.
- In 2007 Disneyland Paris asked Nicky, along with other designers, to restyle their famous princesses in an effort to raise money for Unicef. Nicky's Cinderella dress was sold at an auction at Christie's in Paris and raised more than 15,000 Euros for Unicef, the highest amount of all the designs.
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