Helmut Lang S/S 2020 New York

[Fulton St Critique]

Helmut would own the fashion scene today. I understand the point made about the “legacy” and the “history” of his design career, but I genuinely believe his place in fashion would still hold relevancy given his understanding of dress and the common man/woman. It just feels right for the modern day dress-code, even with the relaxed uniform so many have adopted, Lang’s timelessness has transcended any fade of trend seen in the past three decades.

Since the world has moved away from appreciating unique pattern making altogether. Lang’s straightforward edge, combined with his innovative choice of textiles would sell tremendously in our environment. Just look at his tailoring. There is nothing remarkable about it. It is fairly common, yet so good given the functionality and craftsmanship bestowed upon the fabric.

A quick side-note, whenever I go into Bloomingdales and see the Lang t-shirts sitting on the rack I want to purchase one instantly. It is like I am a sports fan wearing their favorite players jersey. But I could never justify paying that much for a simple cotton t-shirt.

 

[Phuel]

^^^ That would be assuming that he would still be doing his techno-military utilitarian thing had he still been designing… For his final collection, he was clearly already moving away from the street sensibility and onto a more formal, classic direction. Even Helmut himself couldn’t tell you where he would be had he continued to design in 2021— but, I would wager he would have long abandoned what made him such a visionary presence in the mid-90s to his last collection. (It still hurts a bit even now to realize he had cut up his archive for those installations….)

I’m glad he left when he did. If he wasn’t into it anymore by 2005— can you imagine how disgusted he would be to be designing in 2021 LOOOL My issue isn’t that his label is still be flogged, but just how grossly and cheaply it’s being flogged. There hasn’t been the remotest sign of refreshing talent by all these people taking up the mantle of this label: It’s just the same regurgitated knock-off cheapness of his signatures— over and over, of which has become the equivalent of Halloween fashions since it seems like everybody and their grandmums are referencing Helmut, and in the worst way. It’s all such a perfect definition of reductive. But who knows— maybe in another 20 years, some talent will come along and infuse such vision to the label the way that Nicolas had for Balenciaga; John had for Dior; Hedi for Dior Homme; Riccardo had for Givenchy; Olivier had for Rochas; Tom for Gucci--- and yup, Phoebe did for Celine...

 

[tricotineacetat]

Lang’s straightforward edge, combined with his innovative choice of textiles would sell tremendously in our environment. Just look at his tailoring. There is nothing remarkable about it. It is fairly common, yet so good given the functionality and craftsmanship bestowed upon the fabric.

I'll have to say that most of the later collections realized under Prada's ownership were characterized of mostly poor fabrics and construction. Most of the jerseys shrink and twist when washed even on a gentle hand wash cycle and the suiting/coating fabrics used on most of the pieces you'd see on the runway would be something you would find in brands like The Kooples today. The only good that really came out from this partnership was the shoes, bags and accessories line!

Today I love the idea of Helmut more than I do the clothes. I keep looking at some of these last collections with a bit of nostalgy because I remember the vibe from being there then, but I am not surprised my shop customers at the time went straight to Dior Homme because in many ways, Hedi's early work was what Helmut *should* have been but unfortunately wasn't.

 

[Phuel]

^^^ Excellent point: As much as his no-frills, sparse branding (down to the hangtags); presentation and perfect casting; styling and sensibility of utilitarian couture remains unmatched to this day, the final product didn't always lived up to the hype. Admittedly, many of the separates are underwhelming IRL.

Even the collections during the early-2000s— as gorgeous to look at as they were presented and have remained freshly relevant, the actual RTW garments were really not up to the standard of quality that one idealized about Helmut. There’s absolutely this mythicaI, romanticized perfection of his aesthetic nowadays. But in-hand, I would reinforce all the buttons on coats/jackets since they were usually loose; the lining weren’t the best and would start fraying too soon; zippers were sometimes frustrating to work because of poor placement… The ideal and concept of his designs were admittedly usually better than the product at times. It’s because of this annoyance that I started to take them to a tailor for discreet improvements. (Dries is also plagued with this issue of strong branding and designs— but the shortcomings of quality in the garments are there.)

 

[Fulton St Critique]

I should have clarified- and if this appears to be an attempt to walk back my words, than so be it lol- that I believe his early work would do well in this climate. (Early as in mid-to-late 1990s).

For example: Spring 1994, FW 95/96, FW97/98, and Spring 2001 just come to mind.

@tricotineacetat I had no idea about the quality issues under Prada’s ownership! Thank you for providing me with this information. That is so interesting.

 

[jeanclaude]

Ok, here´s a pic of 2003 Helmut Lang´s iconic aviator pants. Look at all defects marked on red:


When I saw this pic my mouth literally dropped! There was no quality team supervising production!!

font: my hdd, I don´t remember if this was from 1stdibs.com...

 

[Phuel]

^^^ Those damn zippers LOOOL

I’ve often heard grumblings that 2000s-era Prada is of an inferior quality than 90s-era Prada. I don’t own enough Prada across the decades to make that sort of judgement. I have some nylon jackets/shirts/bags from that supposedly superior era of the 90s— alongside 2000s-era nylon ones, and the quality seems equally good… Frankly, I’m happily satisfied searching out 2000s-era Prada these days then 90s-era Prada.

 

[rip_ian curtis]

I'll have to say that most of the later collections realized under Prada's ownership were characterized of mostly poor fabrics and construction. Most of the jerseys shrink and twist when washed even on a gentle hand wash cycle and the suiting/coating fabrics used on most of the pieces you'd see on the runway would be something you would find in brands like The Kooples today. The only good that really came out from this partnership was the shoes, bags and accessories line!

Today I love the idea of Helmut more than I do the clothes. I keep looking at some of these last collections with a bit of nostalgy because I remember the vibe from being there then, but I am not surprised my shop customers at the time went straight to Dior Homme because in many ways, Hedi's early work was what Helmut *should* have been but unfortunately wasn't.

I agree, the most ”iconic” stuff that people praise to heavens these days really doesn’t look or wear that great in real. As you said, especially the jersey is the worst quality. I have runway jerseys from f/w 03, and I have to wash them so often because they stretch like crazy and washing is the only way to get them shrink back to how they should fit.

Some of his pre-Prada 90’s stuff also feels quite shoddily made and finished, but that is the case for a lot of fashion from that era. I do think that the general standard for quality in designer fashion is different now than what it was in the past. Now it would be hard to find a luxury brand piece without really clean finishing, perfect linings, bound seams and clean stitching, whereas in the past you would find things like visible overlocking, bad zippers and wobbly stitching. Then again, even if not perfectly finished on the inside, the actual designs were much better in the past...