Pieter Mulier - Designer, Creative Director of Alaïa

[PDFSD]

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?

Gaultier was much more of a technician and innovator in menswear than Helmut Lang.
Helmut Lang Like Margiela like Gaultier before they all where technical and innovative it's just different tools and styles.
to know each brand fully is to know they are similar in ground principal but so differently executed.

why i don't find Helmut Lang on the verge of pretentious is because he always was searching for solutions to do modern meaningful clothes to live with but also was not shy to give expermention space as a way to find new solutions. since day one it was about search not ego of self expression .

its only now after the fact people realize he made a blue print back than it just felt right for the new times we were heading to because it was grounded in realism .

when he speaks of his work then and even his art now its always very honest and practical response to his surrounding and search.

Helmut Lang is not far removed from a Coco Chanel in her days and that's not just because both used the triolan jackets heritage and technical fabric seen as poor to make a new high fashion uniform, its rooted in realism but with guts (the search) and it's not as bright and happy in your face like a Gualtier but nonetheless equally powerful or even more timeless.

 

[Lola701]

Gaultier was much more of a technician and innovator in menswear than Helmut Lang.
Helmut Lang Like Margiela like Gaultier before they all where technical and innovative it's just different tools and styles.
to know each brand fully is to know they are similar in ground principal but so differently executed.

why i don't find Helmut Lang on the verge of pretentious is because he always was searching for solutions to do modern meaningful clothes to live with but also was not shy to give expermention space as a way to find new solutions. since day one it was about search not ego of self expression .

I don’t find him pretentious either but I think it could have been easily perceived that way. To name his collections « séances de travail », to have a dedicated sound stylist, to have a very 360 POV, to even have a dedicated way of showing collections…All of that was very new at the time. To be this new could be seen as pretentious.

I won’t ever try to pretend that people coming with new way of doing things are welcomed with open arms…Even more in Paris in the early 90’s (because he really achieved his vision after a few seasons).

 

[PDFSD]

she is back

Susanna Nicoletti

Pieter Mulier at Versace as anticipated on Linkedin one week ago and explained last Sunday December 14th on SUNDeLuxe risks to become a nail in the coffin for the whole Prada Group.

The investment for the acquisition is very heavy for the Italian group, the relaunch of an exhausted brand with the inexplicable chapter of Dario Vitale very uncertain, the financial and economical landscape for fashion very fragile with markets saturated of stocks and clients fed up with all the style and brands tarantella.

Lorenzo Bertelli next executive chairman of the Medusa brand and Mulier who so far only worked as CD at niche, tiny Alaia with relative business growth and not used to be at the helm of a super brand, who prefers to live in Antwerp as per his interview to Interview magazine and adopt a rebellious approach against the system as he likes to say while launching ballerinas and black bags are a match with lots to be proved and both at their first relevant experience.
Mulier is a fashion darling but his work with Simons at big brands like Dior and Calvin Klein after a first moment of hype never boosted revenues.
Versace and Prada Group need revenues. Very strong revenues.

Miuccia is 76 years old and Patrizio Bertelli 79…
In not a long time Lorenzo will have to take care of several key brands in a time when businesses are in crisis or slowing down.

A strong generation of top executives is missing in the group, with a few exceptions. Prada still has to replace its CEO, he left six months ago.

Prada Group in the past never succeeded when they acquired strong brands like Helmut Lang, Jil Sander and Fendi because they are great in being Prada and if Fendi was not acquired by LVMH Prada Group would have been in serious trouble.

Prada itself is recently slowing down in revenues.

Why taking this burden on their shoulders?

 

[PDFSD]

I don’t find him pretentious either but I think it could have been easily perceived that way. To name his collections « séances de travail », to have a dedicated sound stylist, to have a very 360 POV, to even have a dedicated way of showing collections…All of that was very new at the time. To be this new could be seen as pretentious.

I won’t ever try to pretend that people coming with new way of doing things are welcomed with open arms…Even more in Paris in the early 90’s (because he really achieved his vision after a few seasons).

its very european studious ...not performing like we have allot now with the JWA peter RAF BLazy types

its was about search and studying whereas now we have performance art visual impact first and some weak meaning after

also that era of european art and fashion schools was about discovery and search not the end results.

Helmut was about evolution not so much reaching a look /final vision.

Thats why i think also he was fine to stop searching in fashion and not go back to fashion , because he found he can dare to do the search in art form.

being a artist in certain european countries is regarded as something serious as in studying life etc we lost the meaning as art and artist became pop stars but thats a subject for another day

 

[fenty]

At least the campaigns will be fab, I don't know about the clothes but when was the last time Versace had a decent collection?

 

[Squizree]

At least the campaigns will be fab, I don't know about the clothes but when was the last time Versace had a decent collection?

Literally 2012

 

[fenty]

Whew...

 

[rivegaucheface]

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.

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I guess that's the problem for me then? It's like in modern movies how they say everyone is sexy but no one is seducing.

Yes, the images are all of naked women, legs open, the camera in a position of power. But they feel bloodless to me. Like the camera was clicked by remote by someone in a different room. It doesn't even feel kinky or voyeuristic. It's like a study of the power of a hot woman over her lover *if* her lover were in the room, but they're not. I don't know how successful that intellectualization of feminine power will be at Versace. Versace never feels like they think too much.

I'm reminded of Tom Ford's show where it felt like attraction removed from the subject was a lot more successful.

 

[yslforever]

Literally 2012

And September 25.

 

[Avonlea]

And September 25.

Dario's collection became a guilty pleasure of mine.

 

[Lola701]

At least the campaigns will be fab, I don't know about the clothes but when was the last time Versace had a decent collection?

I liked the Versus/Versace collection from SS2025 and prior to that, the FW2018. I loved that collection. Tacky but good.

 

[PDFSD]

I guess that's the problem for me then? It's like in modern movies how they say everyone is sexy but no one is seducing.

Yes, the images are all of naked women, legs open, the camera in a position of power. But they feel bloodless to me. Like the camera was clicked by remote by someone in a different room. It doesn't even feel kinky or voyeuristic. It's like a study of the power of a hot woman over her lover *if* her lover were in the room, but they're not. I don't know how successful that intellectualization of feminine power will be at Versace. Versace never feels like they think too much.

I'm reminded of Tom Ford's show where it felt like attraction removed from the subject was a lot more successful.

I get what you mean its a cold sexy, you can be sexy in many ways like vulgar as well as sensual or seductive or cliche etc

I was showing that his attempt to do sex sells is in the ads , i am not a fan of his work i am hard on his ALAIA.
but same time i totally get it why Prada wants him at Versace as i said weeks ago.

Will it be better than his ALAIA lets see , will he strike the right balance ...i think whatever he does it will be very clear and understandable what it is that is one of his main strength. especially in a overcrowded confused market .....why Dario versace for me was a flop.

I don't feel like gianni versace woman was silly or stupid ..woman like demi moore worn stuff or even a rock rebel courtney love (who actually knows and collects a lot of vintage costumes ) i see them as strong and intelligent type of womens with edge.
much like prada has the exuberant rich fun side so does versace have the concentrated minimal edge side

Kristen McMenamy did soooo many ad campaigns for versace and she is no bombshell its a shame people only remember the loud stuff.

 

[Salvatore]

You know what ? It's fine at this point. With many of the big house appointments landing in a mediocre to bad way, maybe we will be pleasantly surprised ? I said that another time and it did not work well, but hey ! By now, it is what it is.

 

[Squizree]

One thing we can count on him for is he'll certainly differentiate himself. His kind of precise focus seems to be incredibly rare in 2025.

 

[reese06]

I get what you mean its a cold sexy, you can be sexy in many ways like vulgar as well as sensual or seductive or cliche etc

I was showing that his attempt to do sex sells is in the ads , i am not a fan of his work i am hard on his ALAIA.
but same time i totally get it why Prada wants him at Versace as i said weeks ago.

Will it be better than his ALAIA lets see , will he strike the right balance ...i think whatever he does it will be very clear and understandable what it is that is one of his main strength. especially in a overcrowded confused market .....why Dario versace for me was a flop.

I don't feel like gianni versace woman was silly or stupid ..woman like demi moore worn stuff or even a rock rebel courtney love (who actually knows and collects a lot of vintage costumes ) i see them as strong and intelligent type of womens with edge.
much like prada has the exuberant rich fun side so does versace have the concentrated minimal edge side

Kristen McMenamy did soooo many ad campaigns for versace and she is no bombshell its a shame people only remember the loud stuff.

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That seems to be very much donatella’s fault.. she designed Versace into a corner and capri holdings really cheapened the brand with their merchandising strategy.

By the time she widened her inspiration of references, she had already ingrained into the public’s mind that Versace is loud colors, slinky sexy, so even when she tried the more obscure Gianni references, people said it wasn’t very Versace. The nuance is that donatella’s designs also have not been good for quite some time

 

[rivegaucheface]

I don't feel like gianni versace woman was silly or stupid ..woman like demi moore worn stuff or even a rock rebel courtney love (who actually knows and collects a lot of vintage costumes ) i see them as strong and intelligent type of womens with edge.
much like prada has the exuberant rich fun side so does versace have the concentrated minimal edge side

Kristen McMenamy did soooo many ad campaigns for versace and she is no bombshell its a shame people only remember the loud stuff.

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I didn't mean to characterize Versace as such, i definitely don't see them that way. Versace seems a lot more direct, which is where Mulier's intellectualization (which I think he gets trapped in) is confusing for me with regard to him at Versace.

 

[Squizree]

Poor Donatella. She's been done for months now and she's still getting shat on. She really did sink the ship though.

 

[PDFSD]

I didn't mean to characterize Versace as such, i definitely don't see them that way. Versace seems a lot more direct, which is where Mulier's intellectualization (which I think he gets trapped in) is confusing for me with regard to him at Versace.

but his that why i spoke of the ads as the trick is that his ads are quite direct not far from basic vaccarello ysl hooker chic girls reduction all leggy fashion
the shows are more conceptual sure

 

[PDFSD]

That seems to be very much donatella’s fault.. she designed Versace into a corner and capri holdings really cheapened the brand with their merchandising strategy.

By the time she widened her inspiration of references, she had already ingrained into the public’s mind that Versace is loud colors, slinky sexy, so even when she tried the more obscure Gianni references, people said it wasn’t very Versace. The nuance is that donatella’s designs also have not been good for quite some time

She did what she could i liked her early years right after Gianni death some misses sure but there was more modernity and guts then, the ig Donatella era also some good parts but she became more the star than the brand or clothes but i think she did what she could to keep the attention on the brand i really can't be mad at her or fault her.

Much like a VV at Chanel who is even more not into the limelight but did her job best she could with honoring her mentor KL.

Donatella overcame lots of things: murder of her dear brother , divorce, daughter with anorexia and mental problems, her own drugs problems, the weight of her brothers legacy dealing with all the industry changes, keeping or selling the company ....its allot!!!!!!! she is alive and i give her lots of grace.

I am happy for the brand to shin under prada leadership fingers crossed and that one day she lives to see & can be proud that what she started with her brother is bigger and stronger than ever past her life.

It was a family company but now its sold for the second time, its life its ok to move on without looking for blame.
she did versace for many years with her brother and alone human she will make mistakes.

most designers don't last 3 years at a house, think what's left of old guard deserves respect the fake new ones need to be held to higher scrutiny and prove themself with these milion euro salaries.

We have Lee at Burberry collecting million of pounds for doing make believe shows, while you have the new ceo pushing Burberry basics and cut 1700 jobs and get his target bonus into millions after he got already in his first 9 months £2.6 million.

his full earrings breakdown is public:
Ironically, for a brand that trades so heavily on Britishness, the man responsible for turning around its fortunes is American. And also expensive. Joshua Schulman, who succeeded former Versace boss Jonathan Akeroyd as CEO last July, received almost £2.6 million in his first nine months in the job, and is on course to receive a bonus worth 300 per cent of his £1.35 million salary, taking his earnings to £5.6 million if his performance targets are met, excluding a potential £3.6 million bonus if he doubles Burberry's share price in three years and re-enters the FTSE 100.

 

[jeanclaude]

Gianni Versace was about sex...Mulier is about fapping with a magazine. Just a poor substitute for the real thing.