Rebel brand Vetements sent fashion into a spin
Sunday with an haute couture show that broke all the rules, appropriating
clothes and shoes from 17 other brands and recutting them in its own
irreverent neo-Soviet street style.
The most talked about brand in fashion had been invited to show as a
guest
in the elite, uniquely Parisian events, seen as the pinnacle of exclusive
made-to-measure clothing.
But instead of bowing to couture’s near century-long tradition of
handmade
artistry, Vetements called in brands as diverse as Levi’s, Mackintosh and
Brioni to supply them with their trademark garments which they then remade.
The result was an attention-hogging show that left few indifferent.
Social media was abuzz afterwards with the red velour tracksuits with
“Juicy” picked out in crystals across the bum, gigantic dungaree-aprons and
hoodies with shrunken hoods.
The show began with the oversized jackets that have become Vetements
calling card, replete with their overlong “gorilla sleeves”.
Then designer Demna Gvasalia rolled out a series of jarring, eye-catching
new tropes, pulling up his perennial thigh-high boots so they sometimes
reached to the waist and beyond.
He even seemed to be trying to create a previously uncharted erogenous
zone
halfway between the navel and the sternum by pulling diamond-shaped peep
holes
in his Comme des Garcons shirts.
Also striking was how Georgian-born Gvasalia — who fans hail for
defying
the “system” — set out to blur the difference between high and low end
brands
with Dr Martens boots and Manolo Blahnik stilettos sharing the same runway.
“The idea was to work with brands and their specialised suppliers,” he
told
reporters backstage after the show.
“Vetements unsubscribes to the difficult production cycle that has
been
forced upon many designers,” the label said in a statement, referring to the
punishing turnaround times creators increasingly must adhere to.
“Trailblazing brands — trendsetters of their time — are still relevant
today. Not only because of their acclaimed designs, but also because of
years
of perfecting material and production methods,” it added.
While many questioned whether Vetements’ spring men and women’s show
was
really haute couture, few doubted that it was shock to the increasingly
frenetic fashion system which has seen many designers complain of burnout.
Unlike most of their peers who produce several collections, Vetements —
founded by 35-year-old Gvasalia and his younger brother Guram only two years
ago — make only two a year so their clothes can spend longer in the shops.
But in one crucial respect the Gvasalias did bow to pressure. Having been
pilloried for the lack of black faces in their previous shows, this one was
more diverse, prompting Elle magazine’s Kenya Hunt to tweet, “Nice to
finally
see some people of colour on the Vetements runway.”
Another post-Soviet creator also impressed Sunday, with the Kazakh
designer
Ulyana Sergeenko using suspender belts worn over clothes to symbolise
“Khrushchev’s thaw” in the 1960s.
In the two other highlights of the opening day, Donatella Versace
unveiled
an untypically demure 1950s influenced collection of shimmering gowns that
still managed to show off the legs.
And Yuima Nakazato — best known for his creations for the singer
Lady Gaga
— became the first Japanese designer to show in haute couture for more
than a
decade.
His futuristic feathery ensembles used coloured layers of PVC cut by
machine and then “treated as origami”.
“Combining technology with craftmanship could be the future of couture,”
he
told AFP afterwards. (AFP)
Photos: Catwalkpictures