Helmut Lang Re-Editions Capsule Collection - Now Online
25 April 2019Re-editions from the godfather of luxury streetwear.
1999 Re-Edition Astro Moto Jacket | 1997 Re-Edition Elbow Cut-Out Sweater | MR87 Jean
After a 2010 fire destroyed part of Helmut Lang's NY-based studio leaving one of the 20th century's most influential design archives in ruin, Lang made a radical decision. In lieu of inspecting each of the 6000 archive samples to assess them for damage, Lang took ownership of the tragedy and destroyed the remaining archive himself. Showing no remorse, the Austrian-born designer oversaw the shredding of the surviving garments and, like a phoenix rising from the studio's ashes, 25 years of work was given new life as the raw materials in a new art installation dubbed 'Make It Hard'.
The fallout from this fire is what makes a re-editions collection from the Lang archives particularly significant. Although credited as the pioneer of modern streetwear - whose decision to interpret the clothes of the masses through a luxury lens has left an indeterminable legacy of global cultural value - very little of Lang's own fashion design work remains today.
After one of the most illustrious and electric careers in recent fashion history, as the defining voice of the 1990s, Lang retired from fashion design more than a decade ago when his eponymous label was acquired by the Prada Group. In spite of his lost archive, the enduring relevance of Helmut Lang's name speaks to the monumental bequeathing of ideas that are as important now as when Lang retired in 2005.
Helmut Lang, the man, now lives and works as an artist out of East Hampton. Helmut Lang the label still lives and breathes as a defining force of the New York fashion circuit.
The Re-Editions Capsule Collection heralds a new era in the Helmut Lang story. Experimental to its core, the company is rewriting the rulebook of what it means to be a luxury label in the 21st century. At its helm is Dazed and Confused’s editor-in-chief Isabella Burley operating under the new title “editor-in-residence”. Rather than appointing a permanent Creative Director, Hurley will work with designers-of-note on solo collections each season to write the next chapter in the label's history by giving a slew of exciting design forces the opportunity to experiment using Lang's creative language. A language we see each season in the work of influential contemporaries such as Alexander Wang, Raf Simons, and Philip Lim.
And why shouldn't they make their own rules? A complete irreverence for the fashion status quo is part of the lifeblood upon which Helmut Lang is built...
Responsible for single-handedly realigning the global style zeitgeist to usher in a decade of minimalism. Responsible for moving New York Fashion Week to the beginning of the global collections circuit by defiantly moving his show to before Europe's presentations and encouraging other American designers to follow suit. The first designer to embrace the internet, live streaming a 1998 runway presentation back in the age when shows were intentionally insular and exclusive to the industry elite. The impact of Lang's influence spread far beyond the runway and will be felt in the annals of the clothing industry for decades to come.
Helmut Lang is disruptive by design, and with a relaunch remit to 'reignite the spirit of the past', let the rule-breaking begin.
The Re-Editions Capsule Collection is now available at END.
