Vetements
#2015 – Vetements
Vetements in French means “clothes” – but Vetements goes far beyond the meaning of clothes in today’s fashion industry. It exaggerates clothes. It elongates the sleeves, gives volume to cowboy boots and makes floral grandma dresses look provocative, and kind of sexy. Led by Demna Gvasalia and six other anymous designers, who met while working as design team at Maison (Martin) Margiela, Vetements is the new force which makes fashion rules feel even more useless than ever.
AW15 – Even their autumn-winter fashion show wasn’t a typical event where clothes were celebrated in a traditional way. But don’t think it was done in a fussy, Chanel way – oh no. The “creative network” of the brand took their guests to Le Depot, a sleazy sex-club, where everybody felt a mood of anti-fashion. At first sight, you might not really understand the collection – but in reality, it is not that deep in its meaning as you might think. These clothes, even though look pretty grotesque, are wearable. Gvasalia claims “as long as we can make clothes that people want to wear and they find them cool and relevant, that’s my understanding of hype”. Although the styling is complicated and well-considered (or not), separately the clothes are easy. Take the over-sized trench coat. You can wear it with everything – even if you might look like a hobo, you look like a anti-fashion person. But the thing about Vetements is, that you need to feel this anti-fashion thing. And live in it, consciously.
SS16 – For summer, Vetements presented its collection in a tacky Chinese restaurant. But, even though the SS16 mood-board wasn’t focused on China nor on Asia, it reflected the spirit of this place through old-fashioned kitsch. Floral dresses inspired by aprons of Gvasalia’s grandmother, sequined capes, velvet sweatshirts and tunics – and all of that bound up with ultra-long leather belts with Harley-Davidson-style buckles. The eerie soundtrack of the collection perfecly described the new season’s attitude – it began with gentle waltz and then abruptly descended into Mayhem – the Norwegian heavy metal group. The black hoodies featuring a print based on Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic burst confusion (maybe one of Vetements’ designers loves / hates this film?), however the leather jackets that were constructed to be comfortable when sat on real bikes made much sense. The must-have, best-selling jeans were renewed to be more comfortable and affordable. In other words, the summer version of Vetements is rather an expansion of the last season’s wardrobe than a new idea. But in reality, it absolutely made the collection feel more desirable, just like the cowboy boots or sock heels.
2016 will be a very special year for Vetements’ leading designer, Demna, as he is going to take Balenciaga under his creative direction! And basically, I can’t wait to see his debut collection in March.
Unexpected Muses
It’s clear that fashion has always had its muses. This season, the designers looked forward to all decades – and all of them had their unexpected muse that influenced the whole collection, even though she wasn’t pinned to the moodboard… here is a break-down of spring-summer 2016’s eight unconventional women who left their style DNA forever in fashion!
Kim Gordon x Marc Jacobs
Kim Gordon, the vocalist and guitarist of 80’s/90’s top grunge band, Sonic Youth, seemed to be present with her spirit in Marc Jacobs’ spring collection. Kim is in Marc’s fashion story from the very beginning – when he was at Perry Ellis, she performed at his debut show. Then, Gordon appeared to be in Jacobs’ first ever advertising campaign in 1998, photographed by Juergen Teller. The recent collection of the American designer focused on the Old Hollywood glamour, however the off-duty, grungy twist was visible in the way the models wore their dresses. They really didn’t care about them, and this was very her.
Doona Bae x Louis Vuitton by Nicolas Ghesquiere
Doona Bae, the actress of the iconic science-fiction film, Cloud Atlas, became an instant, yet very unexpected muse of Nicolas Ghesquiere. Her home-cut bob and manga inspired way of dressing reflects one of the top looks from Louis Vuitton’s collection. The cyberpunk, sci-fi aesthetic is Nicolas’ current obsession – so no wonder why Doona’s film character excites him so much. Just check out his Instagram account.
Madonna x Miu Miu
Miuccia Prada conveys, as she likes to describe, something “perverse and girlie” to Miu Miu. The recent collection, filled with sheer apron dresses, felt seductive and elusive at the same time. Just like Madonna’s style from Erotica and Human Nature period – a lot of flesh exposure, satin underwear and transparent mini dresses, as everyone can distinctly remember. Erotica, romance. I’d like to put you in a trance.
Courtney Love x Chloe
Chloe is all about freedom and care-free attitude this season. And this attitude is something you can consider as Courtney Love’s way of being – concerts, parties and fun. Take a note at the photograph above.
Meryl Streep x Celine
Lately, I have watched Woody Allen’s Manhattan film, and I am surprised to admit that whole New York used to wear Celine dresses! Just look at Meryl Streep, who played Jill – the minimal, light dresses she wore made me think of Phoebe Philo and her feminine, creative direction at the coveted Parisian brand. And, I must say – Meryl looks flawless in this film.
Sade x Anthony Vaccarello
Sade’s Soldier of Love is as timeless, as denim, which was seen in Anthony Vaccarello spring show. A simple, well-fit pair of jeans can make every outfit look effortless, and Sade has proved that throughout her career.
Diana Ross x Vetements
Demna Gvasalia would have never considered Diana Ross as his SS16 muse publicly. But the sparkling, sequin dress from the most anti-fashion and anti-corporate brand, Vetements, just screams Chain Reaction. Disco vibes alert is turnt on!
Frida Kahlo x Gucci
When I saw this dress designed by Alessandro Michele, my first thought was “Frida Kahlo would nail this one”. The meticulously embroidered tehuana dress is such a bold nod to this eccentric, Mexican artist, who totally changed the female art scene. I am in awe – if you ask me, this is the most beautiful dress of the season.
Kitsch, Belts and Grandma. Vetements SS16
One of the season’s most anticipated brands, Vetements, presented its anti-fashion collection in a tacky Chinese restaurant. But, even though the SS16 mood-board wasn’t focused on China nor on Asia, it reflected the spirit of this place through old-fashioned kitsch. Floral dresses inspired by Demna Gvasalia’s aprons of his grandmother, sequined capes, velvet sweatshirts and tunics – and all of that bound up with ultra-long leather belts with Harley-Davidson-style buckles. The eerie soundtrack of the collection perfecly described the new season’s attitude – it began with gentle waltz and then abruptly descended into Mayhem – the Norwegian heavy metal group. The Vetements logo black hoodies featuring a graphic based on Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic burst confusion (maybe one of Vetements’ designers loves / hates the film?), however the leather jackets that were constructed to be comfortable when sat on real bikes made much sense. The must-have, best-selling jeans were renewed to be more comfortable and affordable. In other words, Vetements for spring summer 2016 is rather an expansion of the last season’s wardrobe than a new idea. But in reality, it absolutely made the collection be more desirable, just like the cowboy boots or sock heels.
Photography by Chloé Le Drezen
What’s Hot (11.9.15)
Design & Culture by Ed 