Helmut Lang/Prada drama> update*HL-art

[softgrey]

lang...

at the oct show...

 

[softgrey]

bertelli...

i think this is the first time i've really seen a picture of him...

 

[Galliano guy]

!!?

 

[faust]

Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Helmut's Dramatic Exit: Bottom-Line Focus Drives Out Lang
By Miles Socha

PARIS — Fashion’s revolving door has a new twist: Exit only.
In another symptom of the growing malaise between the suits and the studio, Prada Group said Monday that Helmut Lang has resigned as creative director of the fashion house he founded 19 years ago and made synonymous with minimalist, edgy cool.

No explanation was given for the split with Lang.

The release noted that Lang’s remaining design team would develop the upcoming fall-winter women’s collection. It has not yet been determined if it will be shown on the runway during Paris Fashion Week in March.
Lang also declined to comment beyond the press release, in which he declared: “I would like to thank everyone, particularly my team and all the petites mains [seamstresses] and all the press and buyers who have supported the company in the past years.”
According to sources, Lang has a noncompete clause in his employment contract with Prada that forbids him to work in any related business for six months. However, the 46-year-old is not expected to walk off into the sunset and has told intimates that he will consider new opportunities within and beyond fashion.
One of the defining figures of the Nineties, Vienna-born Lang is synonymous with clean-lined sportswear for women and men with a futuristic, artsy sensibility. He electrified New York Fashion Week with shows held in raw gallery spaces with a hip soundtrack provided by his Viennese DJ friend, Peter Kruder.

However, many of the bold plans announced for Lang did not materialize,
Aborted development plans are said to have fueled Lang’s discontent, with merchandising and creative control over the accessories category deemed other bones of contention.

Meanwhile, observers said the split suggests the role of designer is changing — often at odds with the corporate powers that be.
Paola Leoni, managing director of Milan-based ASI Consulting, said designers and managers need to find a new equilibrium between the creative and marketing needs. The role of designer used to be “about 80 percent creativity and 20 percent interpreting trends. Now it’s more like 50-50. Just think of Tom Ford,” she said, alluding to the former Gucci Group creative director, who was prized for his business acumen in addition to his fashion prowess.
According to Jean-Jacques Picart, a Paris-based industry consultant, managers are putting more and more pressure on designers as the competitive environment intensifies and designer brands must compete with fast-fashion chains for scarce fashion spending.
“They ask designers to be Superman: to excite people on the runway, attract people into the stores, do personal appearances and more,” he said.
Armando Branchini, a Milan-based luxury analyst, said he expects more rifts will happen as companies battle tough market conditions and take a more hard-nosed approach.

“Many designers, once they sell their business, become less interested in turning a profit and feel free to entirely focus on the artistic side of their work. They are more interested in what the critics or the fashion establishment say, rather than whether their clothes sell or not,” he said. “Bertelli is a wonderful entrepreneur, but very instinctual, a one-man show, an individualist whose ego motivated him to build his company, and I say this in a positive way, as this is what actually drove him to develop Prada. However, his personality makes it harder to have partners, and not only in terms of designers.”
Julie Gilhart, vice president and fashion director at Barneys New York, said, “I’m sorry it didn’t work out. [Lang] is great at what he does and his last couple of shows have had a lot of energy.
“Who knows what it means for the brand. It certainly is confusing because retailers so relate to Jil at Jil Sander and Helmut at Helmut Lang. It’s confusing and a new thing we’ll have to navigate through. I think Mr. Bertelli’s a smart man and I hope Helmut does something on his own.”

Sportswear? WTF???

 

[ionn26]

Well.. I think Prada has finally successfully got rid of 2 biggest competitors of Minimalism. Both Jil and Helmut are excelled in Minimalistic design and are at the Kings and Queens of it. Even though Prada has bought both and wouldn't consider them as competitors anymore. I think that was Prada's original intention.

Now no one is Minimal which is cool except Prada now (And I am sure to many people after Prada destroying Helmut and Jil, they are not cool anymore!)

Now.. I wonder where the customer base for Both Jil and Helmut will go to without them??/ That would include me...

 

[faust]

Well.. I think Prada has finally successfully got rid of 2 biggest competitors of Minimalism. Both Jil and Helmut are excelled in Minimalistic design and are at the Kings and Queens of it. Even though Prada has bought both and wouldn't consider them as competitors anymore. I think that was Prada's original intention.

Now no one is Minimal which is cool except Prada now (And I am sure to many people after Prada destroying Helmut and Jil, they are not cool anymore!)

Now.. I wonder where the customer base for Both Jil and Helmut will go to without them??/ That would include me...

Certainly not to Prada. Her menswear is crap.

 

[ionn26]

Certainly not to Prada. Her menswear is crap.

I agree.. but where?

 

[softgrey]

Sportswear? WTF???

sportswear and rtw are relatively synonymous terms in the industry faust...it doesn't mean activewear...like for sports...

it just means more sporty...less formal...not eveningwear...

 

[Astrid21]

It's truly a sad day in the fashion world. Helmut Lang has always been an inspiration to me. Very, very unforunate.

 

[Johnny]

Well.. I think Prada has finally successfully got rid of 2 biggest competitors of Minimalism. Both Jil and Helmut are excelled in Minimalistic design and are at the Kings and Queens of it. Even though Prada has bought both and wouldn't consider them as competitors anymore. I think that was Prada's original intention.

Now no one is Minimal which is cool except Prada now (And I am sure to many people after Prada destroying Helmut and Jil, they are not cool anymore!)




Sorry to harp on about this, but this kind of thinking gets to me a bit! Like someone else said, Prada is now in deep sh*t. This does NOT look good for Prada. In any case (1) Prada made a serious investment in these brands and is not in such a position of power as to only have made that investment for the purpose of running them down. Doesn't make any business sense, and (more importantly) (2) Sander and Lang SOLD OUT. People seem to have this romantic idea of these great tortured artists lossing their lives' work to the captilalst machine. That's rubbish!! If everyone on this board knows what Prada inc/Bertelli is like, don't you think that Sander and Lang did (or should have)? They took their money and took the risk. (Although when you think about it, I wonder really what the risk is for them. Six months non-compete? Give me a well paid six moths sabatical any day! Also it's clear from this board that no-one (apart from me!) thinks ill of them, so I'd guess that their reputations are still substantailly intact. So they re-appear in a year's time, with the fashion world waiting for them, perhaps without their own name to market - which is fair enough since they sold it for good money - but still in pretty good shape for a comeback.)

Essentially my point is this. Neither of these designers had their clients and customers in mind when they made these business decisions. They had their bank balances in mind. At least Bertelli is honest about what drives him.

 

[metal-on-metal]

^^^^ Well said, Johnny!

 

[Johnny]

Cheers MoM

 

[baklanyc]

Cheers MoM

I read that without having my full morning dose of caffeine and thought, "Metal on Metal" is Johnny's mother??

Obviously I still need more coffee...

 

[Johnny]

I read that without having my full morning dose of caffeine and thought, "Metal on Metal" is Johnny's mother??

Obviously I still need more coffee...

LMOA!

 

[softgrey]

...AAHHHHAAAAAHHHHAAAA......!!!....

 

[Johnny]

LMOA!

Laugh my off ***? I meant LMAO.

 

[faust]

sportswear and rtw are relatively synonymous terms in the industry faust...it doesn't mean activewear...like for sports...

it just means more sporty...less formal...not eveningwear...

I don't like it.

 

[faust]

Sorry to harp on about this, but this kind of thinking gets to me a bit! Like someone else said, Prada is now in deep sh*t. This does NOT look good for Prada. In any case (1) Prada made a serious investment in these brands and is not in such a position of power as to only have made that investment for the purpose of running them down. Doesn't make any business sense, and (more importantly) (2) Sander and Lang SOLD OUT. People seem to have this romantic idea of these great tortured artists lossing their lives' work to the captilalst machine. That's rubbish!! If everyone on this board knows what Prada inc/Bertelli is like, don't you think that Sander and Lang did (or should have)? They took their money and took the risk. (Although when you think about it, I wonder really what the risk is for them. Six months non-compete? Give me a well paid six moths sabatical any day! Also it's clear from this board that no-one (apart from me!) thinks ill of them, so I'd guess that their reputations are still substantailly intact. So they re-appear in a year's time, with the fashion world waiting for them, perhaps without their own name to market - which is fair enough since they sold it for good money - but still in pretty good shape for a comeback.)

Essentially my point is this. Neither of these designers had their clients and customers in mind when they made these business decisions. They had their bank balances in mind. At least Bertelli is honest about what drives him.

'Tis true. My only problem is the inability of these designers to use their name on a label. I know that's what they called their companies, but that's freaky.

 

[marrimoda]

that is freaky...really a mean yet intangible torture.

I do get what johnny was saying...I also cant help but feel for these designers...you know the idea of building a business, and then selling it is a goal for many entrepreneurs...they often talk about how you should have an exit strategy for selling and leaving. Its just at a different level when its your name!

 

[softgrey]

I don't like it.

...write a letter...