How does Vetements next revolutionise fashion? With a No Show
One of fashion’s most influential brands finds a new way to show, plus SS18 Paris menswear reports of Hermès, Dior Homme, Balmain and Acne Studios
Demna Gvasalia of Vetements was stuck in traffic. It had been gay pride in Paris on Saturday and the parade was heavily policed, so the streets were snarled. It meant he wasn’t around for the first hour of his label’s No Show, the first Vetements “happening” since announcing earlier this month it was ditching the traditional show schedule. What’s a No Show? It wasn’t the designer not turning up. Vetements debuted its spring/summer 18 collection in a parking garage to the north-east of the city with a free bar, a stage for a band, and a series of photographs.
Gvasalia had taken photos of its S/S18 collection on random people in Zurich, the city he is making the home for Vetements, along with himself and his brother Guram, CEO of the brand. The streetcast models had a say in what they wore, and were shown a series of classic fashion photographs. They were then asked to strike a pose. It was a fun idea.
The clothes were a pause and a reappraisal while they move their operations to a new city. The Vetements label-defining long-sleeve floral dress was cut in new prints, like black leopard print on red, or white polka dots on green with a scattering of emoji. There were new sweatshirt and long-sleeve T-shirt collaborations with brands like Umbro and Tommy Hilfiger, their logos corrupted. Tech outerwear jackets were designed in collaboration with parcel deliverers DHL.
Guram Gvasalia said it turned out to be more work to do a No Show than a show. “At the end of the day the collection became almost three times bigger than usual,” he said. “Because I think we were like, OK, we can launch more. It’s a step back to understand what’s happening around and have a different perspective.”
After a scorching few seasons, there’s less consumer white heat around Vetements, especially now Demna Gvasalia is also artistic director of Balenciaga. In Paris, the new season Balenciaga T-shirt, that repurposes the campaign logo of Bernie Sanders is a complete sellout. Vetements became such an instant fashion cult, it’s a smart move to stand still while the company changes location, to see what new inspiration its new home will bring.
How’s the move from Paris to Zurich going? “I thought it would be easy, like moving my own place,” said Guram Gvasalia. “I thought we would just pack the office and move. It’s taking longer because it’s a company and there’s people involved and lots of things involved. There are people who are not from the European Union. You have to organise visas. There’s a lot of paperwork. I hope we can completely move by the end of the year.”
On to Hermès, where interesting ideas worked great on some garments, but not so much on others. A hooded short-sleeve black cotton T-shirt was a weird idea. A hooded long-sleeve blue suede shirt? A dream of a piece: get me to my parallel universe where I have a yacht now.
It continued. A black fine knit with a thin white line down its centre: how is that going to look on any male belly? But then the same fine white line on the edge of a black cardigan looked eloquent. Trackpants in shiny tech fabric? No thanks. But a big yes to zip up blouson and parkas in the same water-repellent cloth. Filter out the other stuff, and it was a strong collection.
It’s been a season of short shorts in menswear, mostly for day. How about for night? Dior Homme suggested extremely short gym shorts be worn with a tuxedo. One pair was worn with slender tails with a twisted seam back. Another pair were barely visible under a double-breasted white tux. Dare trying that out next time you’re invited to a black tie event.
The gym shorts at Dior Homme did not appear intended for real life: they were more a styling trick which looked queasy on the very young and mostly white models. But if we ignore the shorts, the tailoring was strong and technically adept, if not innovative. Elsewhere in the collection, a slash-sleeved sweat-top with a collegiate graphic seemed to be making a play for Givenchy territory, now that Riccardo Tisci has quit that brand. A graphic of a hoody-wearing figure with their back turned will be commercially successful, appearing on shirts and a rucksack. Really, we’re talking about product, not passion.
I continue to be impressed by Olivier Rousteing’s quiet radicalism at Balmain. It’s there in the padded sharp shoulder of a leather long sleeve top, or the snug sharp shape of a little bouclé jacket. He’s pushing a provocative view of men’s fashion that should be defended. Long line tailoring had cutaways at the waist. Shimmer Breton stripes were a smart design decision.
This is clothing of extreme excess and embellishment on a controlled silhouette.
Rousteing understands that it’s not going to win over the haters. His style at the brand is well established, and the look is now so familiar it’s become easy to hate. Maybe it’s time to take his radicalism further, and push somewhere new.
When I arrived the Acne Studios presentation, I was pointed towards backstage. Wait, I’m not a model. There were mirrors for hair and make-up, rails of clothing. I was led to the entrance to the catwalk. A man with a headset told me to wait my turn. Don’t make me go out there! I’m not in the show!
This wasn’t a fashion critic’s cold-sweat nightmare, but a conceit in which editors stood on a runway, and models were sat on chairs, judging our every move. It was also a smart way to show the long line of the brand’s loose trenches and roomy tailoring with wide pants. It’s a look that Acne Studios have touched on often before, and it’s one that is now finding real favour across menswear this season.