Pieter Mulier - Designer, Creative Director of Alaïa

[Monsieur Cristobal]

I don't like the idea of Pieter for Versace because it doesn't sound like a good combination to me.
But I like even less the idea of him getting the job because of his close friendship with Raf.

Like, he was going to get whatever house Prada purchased, no matter if Versace, Cavalli, Vionnet or John Galliano.

 

[brandon J pierre]

I don't like the idea of Pieter for Versace because it doesn't sound like a good combination to me.
But I like even less the idea of him getting the job because of his close friendship with Raf.

Like, he was going to get whatever house Prada purchased, no matter if Versace, Cavalli, Vionnet or John Galliano.

I have to wait and see it , but it doesn't seem like a match to me at all. By the Way , I am a big versace fan! I have all the books except south beach stories.

 

[Olaffo]

I wonder what would his Versace menswear look like ? Never seen this guy actually design any menswear but I can only bet it will be like Raf’s colour coded…

 

[Lola701]

I wonder what would his Versace menswear look like ? Never seen this guy actually design any menswear but I can only bet it will be like Raf’s colour coded…

Surely similar to Ck205whatever number.
Surely Helmut Lang ish in the silhouette but with leather and prints.
I can see him ditching the kind of very summery prints of Gianni for the most graphic ones.

For a lot of people, he is the « new sexy » guy. He is good with castings so it may works.

Prada wants a commercial success and he seems to be the guy right now. Alaia is a little bit more expensive than Versace. They had a devotee clientele for years but apparently new customers had no issue spending money on the accessories.

Versace’s weakness has always been accessories so if he offers an it bag in the first year, it will already be encouraging.

I wanted him out of Alaia, that’s the only thing that matters to me lol.

 

[Squizree]

It could go either way imo. There's a slightly KINKY quality to his work that I think could work wonderfully for Versace, but he can also be so ascetic and over-calculated. I'm interested to see if, and how, he embraces excess. Regardless, Mulier is actually one of the safer choices.

 

[helmutnotdead]

they better give Alaïa to the guy from Standing Ground

 

[jeanclaude]

They are going to put in charge a guy who is the total opposite of Versace style. It´s as absurd as pretending Jil Sander to be the new CD for Lacroix...

 

[Avonlea]

I can see him focusing on Gianni's work from 70s and very early 80s, probably mixed with the late 90s clean cuts. S/S 1981 could be starting point. Him being the total opposite of Versace might result in something unexpected and refreshing. I would still prefer Riccardo though.


archivio vogue

 

[Cocteau Stone]

I just don’t see his appeal.

There’s a stoic coldness to him that is more technically advanced than Raf, but I find it too oppressive and sculptural. He didn’t really embrace the body of a woman at Alaïa, except maybe for his debut show and that latex collection but the latter was a very superficial take. Stuck in 2009 kind of “sexy”.

The Belgian look design wise is of the moment. How they’re doing it is in line with the Scandinavian minimalism and clean look that is as bleak as it is digestible and bland. I like a digestive or arrowroot biscuit, but doesn’t mean it’s my favourite of all time. I can’t even say I have little hope because it’s the trajectory of fashion at the moment. You can’t be forcing cerebralism into every design house. That’s how you lose customers. And it happened at CK, and has made the other recent houses more convoluted. We don’t need to be explained about the craft of it all either, that just highlights one’s own shortcomings if they have to constantly tell you how it’s made as opposed to being more “show don’t tell”. If you have to explain it, you’ve done a sh*t job.

But oh well, we shall see.

 

[rivegaucheface]

Pieter doesn't like woman period he sees them as a walking vehicle for his deflated body sculptures /curtain drapes
of course it does not hurt to fund his more important hobby of collecting art and circle J about it with his close friends.

It's hard for me to imagine someone who couldn't master the sensuality of Alaïa being successful with the sex at Versace. I always wanted to like his work but it feels like he doesn't even really like women's bodies. The bandeau tops and net balloon pants that tented out from his show at the Guggenheim... what women over a size 0 could wear those? So many of his looks I would think, "Where would my boobs go?"

For a lot of people, he is the « new sexy » guy. He is good with castings so it may works.

I don't understand this. Nothing about his clothes were particularly sexy to me. There's no heat, just a cold draping on a figure study. I feel like his casts were always so slim. It's at odds with the image I have of the brand embracing the female form.

It could go either way imo. There's a slightly KINKY quality to his work that I think could work wonderfully for Versace, but he can also be so ascetic and over-calculated. I'm interested to see if, and how, he embraces excess. Regardless, Mulier is actually one of the safer choices.

He never felt kinky to me but I do agree with the ascetic criticism.

Anyway good luck to him and Versace!

 

[jeanclaude]

Him being the total opposite of Versace might result in something unexpected and refreshing.

View attachment 1441637View attachment 1441636
archivio vogue

Or it might result in another disaster...

 

[90sfan]

Can these three designers stop ruining all the houses?!? Raf, Blazy and Mulier. What bores..

 

[style_expert]

When Raf and co. left Calvin Klein in December 2018, I never imagined that seven years later his whole gang would be leading Chanel, Prada, and Versace, like a holy trinity steering three of the most iconic fashion houses toward demise.

Having said that, one has to admire how they clawed their way back into the upper echelons of the fashion industry after that rather dubious Calvin Klein stint.

 

[Kanzai]

Surely similar to Ck205whatever number.
Surely Helmut Lang ish in the silhouette but with leather and prints.
I can see him ditching the kind of very summery prints of Gianni for the most graphic ones.

Pieter should acknowledge that while Raf views Helmut Lang as his godfather, their menswear are totally different. Also, while Raf shares Hedi’s obsession with youth, he operates more like a curator, he is the references type designer (the polar opposite of a conceptual designer like Rei Kawakubo, who detests references and looking at art for inspiration). Raf is very artsy, wearing his pieces isn't just about aesthetics; it's a signal of what music you listen to, what books you read, and which tribe you belong to.

Helmut was never about that. He was a technician and a textile innovator, his strength was in creating timeless-looking clothes that let you disappear into the crowd, only revealing their kinky, complex construction upon close inspection. It was minimal, cool, masculine, and completely gimmick-free. And the biggest difference between them: Lang didn't design for white twinks.


Vogue

 

[tricotineacetat]

I'm uncertain how much Helmut was really a technician from a design perspective than a curator of taste - And at that, also heavily influenced by the synergies he had in dialogue with Melanie Ward, who was for many years such an integral asset to his design process.

I've had the good fortune to meet several of Helmut's collaborators (Alexa Adams, the design director of womenswear who later founded the NY womenswear label, OHNE TITEL, as well as Kostas Murkudis, who was his right hand in the 1990ies) and from the impression I got, his approach was not far off from how Hedi and Raf are working today.

I know the kind of textile manufacturers Helmut loved to buy his technical fabrics from - the 'only' thing he did was to apply them in a high fashion context and not for performance purposes, as they were originally intended for. ;-)

 

[Kanzai]

^ That’s a fair point regarding Melanie Ward and Kostas. I mean collaboration is key in fashion, and no designer works in a vacuum . However, I’d argue there is a fundamental difference in what is being curated. Raf curates external culture (art, music scenes, youth tribes), he puts a picture of a band on a parka and such. When you say the "only" thing Helmut did was apply technical fabrics in a high fashion context, that IS the innovation to me. Taking ballistic nylon or rubber and re-engineering them into a sharp, sartorial context is a technical feat, not just a styling choice. HL hid the references so effectively that he convinced the world he was the inventor of that aesthetic, rather than just a curator of taste. With Raf, you can clearly see the moodboard and what his target audiences are.

 

[tricotineacetat]

^ That’s a fair point regarding Melanie Ward and Kostas. I mean collaboration is key in fashion, and no designer works in a vacuum . However, I’d argue there is a fundamental difference in what is being curated. Raf curates external culture (art, music scenes, youth tribes), he puts a picture of a band on a parka and such. When you say the "only" thing Helmut did was apply technical fabrics in a high fashion context, that IS the innovation to me. Taking ballistic nylon or rubber and re-engineering them into a sharp, sartorial context is a technical feat, not just a styling choice. HL hid the references so effectively that he convinced the world he was the inventor of that aesthetic, rather than just a curator of taste. With Raf, you can clearly see the moodboard and what his target audiences are.

I will not disagree on that, Raf's way of working with word and collages (dating back to his earlier collaboration with Pieter de Potter at his own brand) has never been subtle and the way those kind of references have found their path into both Prada and Dior have been inexcusable.

I also would like to point out how far away the outcome between Raf's Calvin and Helmut Lang in NYC has been - People like to point out similarities and it's very clear how much an admirer of Lang Raf Simons has always been (not much to Lang's delight, as I heard), but it's safe to say Helmut would have NEVER produced collections as well as conceived interior concepts as the ones Raf Simons did for his failed Calvin Klein.

The one thing I wanted to point out (which in fact, I did not do in the end) is that Jil Sander has always been the more 'technical' designer between the two, when we have to just narrow it down to the tiny parameters of fabric development and pattern drafting - Something that you can also hear in every interview of Jil.

Helmut really set the bar for the modern 'creative director' that would later find his successor in somebody like Hedi Slimane - With a similarly clear vision in art direction, artistic dialogue, music and architecture.

 

[PDFSD]

It's hard for me to imagine someone who couldn't master the sensuality of Alaïa being successful with the sex at Versace. I always wanted to like his work but it feels like he doesn't even really like women's bodies. The bandeau tops and net balloon pants that tented out from his show at the Guggenheim... what women over a size 0 could wear those? So many of his looks I would think, "Where would my boobs go?"


I don't understand this. Nothing about his clothes were particularly sexy to me. There's no heat, just a cold draping on a figure study. I feel like his casts were always so slim. It's at odds with the image I have of the brand embracing the female form.


He never felt kinky to me but I do agree with the ascetic criticism.

Anyway good luck to him and Versace!

only thing i like to add is i agree with lola on the new sexy guy ...and why Prada wanted him the next best thing close to raf that is doing thinking fashion but more sexy ....the sex even if its cold and curated like a museum exhibition on sex is what is mainstream modern today also we should not forget the ads feature naked girls etc its not only a high slit in a pants or skirt that make a brand image sexy.

legs open , hotel rooms , naked with just heels , in bed, lots of legs......not far from Vaccarello helmut newton themu on repeat.
this just has more of phoebe woman empowerment gloss without the woman empowerment part just the gloss.

you can see below the new versace more clear and understandable just ad some good clean coolish shapes bags and shoes you have a healthy brand restart.

 

[Lola701]

Pieter should acknowledge that while Raf views Helmut Lang as his godfather, their menswear are totally different. Also, while Raf shares Hedi’s obsession with youth, he operates more like a curator, he is the references type designer (the polar opposite of a conceptual designer like Rei Kawakubo, who detests references and looking at art for inspiration). Raf is very artsy, wearing his pieces isn't just about aesthetics; it's a signal of what music you listen to, what books you read, and which tribe you belong to.

Helmut was never about that. He was a technician and a textile innovator, his strength was in creating timeless-looking clothes that let you disappear into the crowd, only revealing their kinky, complex construction upon close inspection. It was minimal, cool, masculine, and completely gimmick-free. And the biggest difference between them: Lang didn't design for white twinks.


Vogue

I don’t know if Helmut Lang was all of that.
For me Gaultier was much more of a technician and innovator in menswear than Helmut Lang.

I just think that Helmut was a man of his time. He invented a concept that became a blueprint of modernity. In that sense his approach to fashion was innovative.

While youth is very important for Raf, I don’t have the feeling that it’s that important for Pieter…I mean we will see.

Helmut Lang is the ultimate proof that you can be very artsy, on the verge of pretentious and be accessible, sexy and desirable. And it’s in part because the clothes were styled after all on the same models that walked Gucci or Versace.

It’s a balance that all the designers influenced my Helmut try to reach non?