Further installments are planned. These are new works, correct? Are they made using overlapping transparencies? Are the originals preserved? They are over-layered transparency sheets from former advertising layouts.
They are by default multilayered and create through a layered procedure a different meaning, message, and creative output. The originals are preserved in the MAK archive. How do they relate to your current practice? I will take them a step further, rework them in a more abstract direction, and try to find the right artistic form for them. I like to think that everyone should be perceived equally, as should be all work, all things, and memories—big or small.
How do archives relate to the concept of nostalgia which I feel has enveloped fashion in a fog? When I am talking about a living archive, I am trying to establish it so that it is not an affair of yesterday, but a current, functioning, and exciting affair. Can you build on the concept of a living archive, please? This seems such a fascinating concept in relation to your current practice, which was built, in a way, on the ashes of a past archive.
The idea of the living archive is partly to save the soul surrounding my work, so it will not be lost in a traditional archive system. On the other hand, it is meant to be used for the purpose of inspiration and to be studied across fashion, graphic design, architecture, and basically every aspect complementing the clothes.
Again, it is not about only preserving the facts and data, but the spirit which gave my work its gravitas. Are you aware of the many, many homages paid to your work? What do you think of it all? My accomplishments have been very rewarding, not to a small part by always maintaining an authentic voice, which has proven to stand the test of time and define a new code for the 21st century. How do you think fashion has changed? We just did things because we wanted to do them and because it was exciting.
The whole package was very important. Where he showed it, how he showed it, the music, the casting … There was this buzz and excitement, the girls were nervous, maybe, Helmut was nervous. The way six months of work was over in ten minutes, that was brilliant too.
It was a better way of capturing what he did than using the clothes for a shoot set up in a studio. It was much more real. But then everything crashed and fashion reflected that and Helmut was there to take advantage. However, the fact that his designs appear just as relevant, just as contemporary, now as they did then is more remarkable. There is none of the telltale period detail that dates the work of lesser designers leading inevitably to the conclusion that Helmut Lang is that rare thing, a visionary, ahead of his time in almost every way.
Even our all-consuming love affair with the internet was foreseen by Lang years before the rest of the world caught up with him. But it also enables great opportunity for so many people who are not in an urban environment. As with all radical changes in society, it will be accompanied by a set of ugly transitional circumstances.
Ultimately, the future will be a progressed landscape with intriguing possibilities and the reality is that some will gain and others will lose. There is definitely no way back so we will consequently embrace the outcome and contribute all the good, human qualities we can.
We will have to choose whether to be wise and responsible — or foolish. It is a measure of his impact that more than a few other big name American designers followed suit resulting in the New York shows being moved permanently. They now kick off the international fashion caravan as opposed to closing it. He shifted the calendar, introduced the idea of the internet to fashion presentation, the ready-made image to fashion advertising — most of the things we now take for granted were gestures that seemed virtually unthinkable at the time.
Helmut Lang sits on the side of the fence that decrees imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. In fact, nothing much seems to rattle this apparently serenely contented figure who, it is well known, sold his company to the Prada Group in and then walked away from it.
Recognizable for his buckles, the Milan-based designer incorporates unique craftsmanship into his creations, in which he unites technical innovations with human emotion.
Recently, Williams debuted his inaugural collection as artistic director of the French Couture House Givenchy. Williams leant his cutting-edge vision to the characteristically couture silhouettes, creating a synergy of striking urban sensibility and elegance. The chief architect of '90s minimalism reimagined everyday basics, through a sophisticated and geometrical lens.
Wang has even created an entire line dedicated to delivering casualwear necessities; T by Alexander Wang features clean cuts, lightly structured tailoring and muted palettes, eliciting the urban polish of Helmut Lang archives.
Bondage and fetish-wear were among Lang's most recognizable designs, as he incorporated straps and harnesses into the interiors of jackets. Similar elements appear in the work of the gothic Rick Owens, who has previously strung the fetish accessory across entire collections creating an industrial and militaristic aesthetic. The trailblazer invented designer denim, initiating jeans into the catalogue of high fashion items.
Frequently worn by the likes of celebrities such as Kanye and Kim Kardashian West, and routinely knocked off by smaller labels.
Their origins can evidently be traced back to Lang. The label continued to celebrate its heritage; the range was rolled out in three volumes including an assortment of pieces reproduced from the Lang archives. During more than a decade of collecting, Casavant has amassed an archive of several thousand pieces—mostly menswear.
He looked at everything, from military to how people were already dressing on streets to utility wear and uniforms. I wanted to have it, and just because I like clothes, I wanted to have them to do something with one day, maybe, is what I always thought. Not wanting to follow the European shows, he moved up the date paywall of his spring-summer show to precede Europe. Other brands, including Calvin Klein, immediately followed suit.
His marketing was similarly groundbreaking. He was the first designer to live stream a runway show on the internet, and the first to advertise on taxi cabs. The ads he made with Jenny Holzer, an American conceptual artist, remain so popular that they routinely circulate on social platforms, such as Instagram and Tumblr.
Sales at his brand plunged in the years before he left, though Prada probably deserves to share the blame. The New York Times reported that sales fell after Prada cut back significantly on the denim line, which accounted for more than half of revenue, as it sought to turn the brand toward sales of pricey handbags and shoes.
In , Lang left, and Prada sold the company the next year to Link Theory holdings, the Japanese maker of Theory clothing and subsidiary of Fast Retailing, which owns Uniqlo. Still, Lang was a powerful force in the industry even as he stepped back from it, and his hold undeniably continues. One of the most prevalent, commercial looks of today is a sporty, diluted version of what Lang did.
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