Forgotten/Obscure Fashion Designers That Disappeared…

[nunova]

Arkadius

I'm glad he flopped so hard. I still want to write something lengthier about him and his fall in English so much, as I doubt there's much about his flop collaboration from 2003/4 with local fast fashion chain Ravel (I saw these terrible pieces sold for price that was way too high for them given the terrible quality) and how he fled to South America to not pay taxes he owed in Poland.

His hype was inflated to hilarious levels on his home turf the most to be honest, it was a job of women's mags that had younger readership (Elle and Cosmo, but also Uroda). Elle even featured him on cover in Nov 2000 alongside Bela, some local celebs and one other designer (Teresa Seda). I can't recall much of full blown features or multiple pieces used by him in the style bible circuit, it was more small mention or one piece in editorial the most. I heard ad nauseam about Menkes writing very positively about him and hyping him up, only reviews of London by Horyn from that time I found pretty much just mentioned him... did ever US Vogue talk about him at time? I talked about it earlier this thread but only proper shot I can recall, outside of Poland, that prominently used his pieces... was in Wallpaper. Maybe I need to invest more into 2001-2003 mags as I don't feel I have enough of sources on him yet to write well enough researched article.

I feel his influence and all that hype did change things around in his home country more as in London he was lost in crowd. He did kinda change things around with more attention brought to more conceptual but also male designers in general. Most of fashion during 90s was either clothiers stuck in late 80s or female designers/female run labels and it really was about women dressing women I guess. MMC Studio was here and did more futuristic/utility designs at some time and 2/3 of it were men, but Klimas and Seda, whose work was pretty much highly Ferretti referential, were most popular local designers here. From anything foreign you maybe got Max Mara, Escada and Ferretti's diffusion line. He wouldn't break out if he tried to do his thing in Poland during same time.

Xuly Bet (Lamine Kouyate) did get considerable editorial coverage in the early-mid 90’s with European press. And a couple of times in US Harper’s Bazaar. It helped that he was repped by Michele Montagne at the time (Helmut Lang, Martine Sitbon, etc.) - he was often part of a package deal!

Not surprising it was US Baazar that was covering him since it always seemed for me to be more modern and open towards emerging designers earlier on than V US did (btw I wish I owned any issue of it, I feel it really was more innovative and modern at time compared to lot of US magazines. US didn't really have space for the alternative magazine circuit that ended up breaking into mainstream as much in UK, mostly due it's big size and fragmented creative/fashion scenes, even in Europe these alt mags were way smaller. I can think only about Nylon as a success story, as ended up being the biggest as it was based in NY but it still was based on British format. Surface (which was a Wallpaper knock off anyway) never really got that big, maybe because it was California based and more confined to North America in general).

Now it's clear for me why there was always Lang, Sitbon, etc in i-D at time, of course with Xuly Bet alongside. I didn't know before they were represented by same person at time before, so I couldn't really see the pattern back then when I had my biggest period of interest in these years in fashion. I've been really tempted recently to rebuy lot of early 90s mags to scan them again, maybe even get The Face from same period to compare.

1989-1990 are years where things got most interesting, also i-D switched format around same time, as it period as there was noticeable shift towards featuring certain Belgians (I remember that WvB was first as his designs really were what i-D was about at that time. Then it was Margiela, who really did stand out from what they shown back then...) and new graduates a lot more but style wise it still had lot of club kid/rave/late 80s subculture fashion and some Westwood around mostly. Soon after that Lang/Sitbon/Xuly Bet started getting getting coverage - between mid to late 1991 and early 1992 I believe, which led to shift in visual look of the magazine. There was a bigger new fashion voices or something like that feature back then where Lang was featured, with rest of package and few other designers I don't remember anymore. Helmut was embraced the most by them in the end. Around same time i-D started slowly moving towards more minimal aesthetic developed by Ward (and few other stylists and photogs from that time working for them) which was here contrasting with louder stuff, by late 1992 transformation was mostly complete and 1993 was year where it became permanent. Now I remembered about April 1992 editorial styled by Judy Blame using some of Lang's S/S1992 pieces...

It really got different, it was less about being British and more European, even global. I can only recall Joe Casely Hayford and Bella Freud being prominently featured around time from British designers, with bits of stuff by Westwood around same time but the early minimalism/anti-fashion and the European designers proved to be stronger force than them. Until a wave of new British designers appeared. Oct 1993 had a feature on new British designers, including McQueen though I felt the aesthetics of British designers were way more favored by Dazed and The Face at time anyway. I wish I didn't lost these scans, really. Would post them all already if I still could and I would have actual source to back this up, without my memory being patchy.

I'll throw it here anyway, as I don't think it is a very known fact but Helmut did design merch for i-D around that time, Margiela did too which contrasted with them doing it with small early streetwear labels at same time. It was still mix though. Designers per se, rather some subculture oriented labels, were getting more prominent. It continued, but at some point I think it stopped being about supporting emerging designers, it was more about challenging the mainstream publications more as influence of these titles grew bigger. By end of 90s magazines in general were getting major label clothing for shots way more often than mostly relying on emerging designers/labels they promoted for clothing used in editorials as before, by that point all got relegated to news sections and it was maybe one or two pieces mixed in later on in actual shots.

I can't think about any actual already well established designer that was featured in i-D during early 90s by the way, except Alaia (I'm sure it was feature c.1992 to early 1993, he was profiled alongside I think... Byron Lars? Not sure if it also was Galliano here too or it was separate feature on him). By late 90s and very early 00s it all changed and they did run more big features on major established figures, the figures they helped to establish who managed to build real legacies way often than newcomers which made the whole ecosystem way more fragile. Mid 90s i-D is enigma for me though, after Ward stopped contributing to magazine, Terry Jones was away and left the magazine to Edward, Avril Mair and Scott King. I'll admit I'm barely familiar with this period (but I hope to change it very soon) and probably it was time when lot of what became i-D that is known today was developed.

 

[kasper!]

I have been lurking and loving TFS for 18 years or more, but never registered or posted. But after 11 pages of no one posting the name that first came to my mind for this thread, I caved in and have joined the ranks as a TFS poster. 😂

LARS NILSSON

He is very active on IG...it seems he is focusing on textile design now.

I follow him because he is one of the very few designers who orders French bespoke suit like Pierre Berge.

 

[NanKempnersVendeuse]

Yes, Lars was an haute couture studio assistant at Chanel before moving to Lacroix where he became the head of haute couture working as Christian Lacroix’s #2 during the mid 1990s. In the late 90s he moved over to Dior haute couture to serve in a similar role for Galliano before heading to New York where he was hired to be womenswear design director for Ralph Lauren Collection.

He finally landed the CD position at Bill Blass in the early aughts for about 3 or 4 years before returning to Paris and becoming CD at Nina Ricci and then very briefly at Gianfranco Ferré in 2007 with one menswear collection and a womenswear collection that was never shown. He then sort of exited the fashion world other than a namesake menswear collection that ran for a few years in the late aughts.

He was boyishly handsome and had a reputation for being very charming. Anna really liked him for a while and championed a lot his work and VF elected him to the International Best Dressed List. I think now he’s involved mainly with interior design and textiles.


Bill Blass S/S 2003


Nina Ricci F/W 2006


Lars himself on the left while presenting Ferré menswear F/W 2007

 

[NanKempnersVendeuse]

Another name that comes to mind is David Cameron, who was the very definition of “flash in the pan” but got amazingly good press for about 3 seasons around 1986/87.

DAVID CAMERON, BRIEF AND BOUFFANT (Published 1986)

New York Times. Bernadine Morris Nov 11, 1986
A year ago David Cameron attracted attention with a first collection that had considerable impact but touched a lot of fashion bases, from circle skirts and tight pants to bandana prints worked out in beads and sequins. This time he has focused on a specific theme and hit pay dirt.

With the exception of some sleek active clothes in stretch fabrics decorated with racing stripes, almost everything in the collection is short (midthigh length) and shown with black tights and ballet slippers. The brief skirts, even those in leather, are puffed out with myriad ruffled petticoats. The tailored jackets are generally waist-length.

The result is an unlikely mixture of the Courreges look of the 1960's and the tutu. Mr. Cameron has somehow managed to combine the precise tailoring of the Courreges shift with a bouffant dance costume. What's more, he makes the combination work, at least for very young women with a sense of adventure. It develops advanced fashion themes in an accessible manner.

His colors are clear. In addition to black and white, he uses pink and yellow, which emphasize his ingenue look. It is rare that a fashion collection has such a precise point of view. This is expressed for evening in flaring black crepe dresses that resemble dancers' practice outfits; for these he exchanges the ballet slippers for high-heel pumps.

His models had long straight hair and natural makeup. They looked like baby dolls and so did the clothes. They pack a terrific wallop, and Mr. Cameron has established himself as a designer of influence. His range is limited, but his point of view is clear. He has left his impact on spring and everyone in the fashion field will be watching his development.

The Show Part 1:

The Show Part 2:

 

[runner]

Carol Christian Poell, I really want to see his face lol. But the darkwear era has long gone obviously!

some designers don't feel they need broad random recognition. they are able to maintain their standpoint without being in the center/mainstream. or rather, they sell something they cannot express without being at the periphery.

internet perception has a detachment from reality. CCP work has never been especially dark. if you actually check it at various physical stores.



Mullet, forgot to say suzuki takayuki has been active. just that making seasonal look books does not interest him.