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Sweatshirt, Vetements
Dress, Vetements
Dress, Vetements
Image: Instagram.com/vetements_official
Boot, Vetements
Sweatshirt, Hood by Air
Pants, Hood by Air
Glasses, Hood by Air
Jacket, Hood by Air
Tank, Gosha Rubchinskiy
Shirt, Gosha Rubchinskiy
Set of badges, Gosha Rubchinskiy
Sweater, Gosha Rubchinskiy
Martin Margiela fall 1998
Image: InDigital
Martin Margiela fall 1997
Image: InDigital
Maison Margiela spring couture 2016
Image: InDigital
Maison Margiela spring 2016
Image: InDigital
Maison Margiela spring 2009
Image: InDigital
Maison Margiela spring 2008
Image: InDigital
Boot, Maison Margiela
Top, Maison Margiela
Wallet, Play x CDG
Sneakers, Play x CDG
T-shirt, Play x CDG
Sweatshirt, Play x CDG
Kylie Jenner in Givenchy
Image: Instagram.com/kendalljenner
Beyoncé in Givenchy
Image: Instagram.com/riccardotisc17
Skirt, Givenchy
Clutch, Givenchy
Yeezy x Balmain
Image: Instagram.com/kimkardashian
What goes up must come down, as is the way of the world. But in the lexicon of all things fashion, but what’s down below must also come up. Underground subcultures have a magnetic energy about them—it’s their disaffected members overriding authoritarian, their simple logic of standing up for what they feel strongly about and their ability to create an alternate world drawing us into to their complicated realities.
Where do clothes come into the mix? And how does the name of an emerging designer that faintly knocks at the back of your head suddenly become the next big thing that everyone’s set their sights on? Sometimes, all it takes is celebrity endorsement by way of an off-duty spotting or a selfie in the designer’s wares, to catapult the brand into insta-fame.
The Demna effect
Spokesperson of the collective Vetements and creative director at Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia is a prime example of the current times. Early sightings of the Vetements sweatshirt can be traced back to Kanye West and Rihanna. The combination of music and fashion makes for a sure-shot hit, and what follows is a surge in demand of the outfit until the designer runs out of stock and is cannonballed into fame.
Gvasalia doesn’t quite understand the luxury price tag, but finds himself smack in the nucleus of the very industry. From the iconic DHL T-shirt to the sulk-perfect hoodie and the sock heels, anything Vetements touched by a celebrity has been sold out. The Demna impact was such that Vetements is now on the couture week calendar.
Testaments of history
Belgian designer Martin Margiela started the label Maison Martin Margiela, where the signature was conceptual clothing that begged to be understood. Once that was established, the brand, even two decades later, still remains the last word in cool. Margiela himself was once a guest member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture.Comme des Garçons’s retail line is a cult staple amongst fashion consumers of varying age groups. The red heart is so iconic, it’s akin to wearing the badge of a secret community of cool. Much later came Shayne Oliver of street favourite label Hood By Air, who started his line of clothing after dropping out Fashion Institute of Technology. Hood by Air is worn today by the likes of Kanye West, Rihanna, Ciara and A$AP Rocky.
Who is your buyer?
Whatever the story behind a brand, it ultimately (sometimes proverbially) hangs in a store for purchase. Does the shopper at Saks understand the irony behind the DHL T-shirt, or is it picked up because it was spotted on a popular Instagram account? Said Oliver in an interview with US Vogue, “The person that buys that (a Feature Presentation sweatshirt was in question) is either a jerk, or they get it. It’s good and bad, but we have to understand that it’s happening and control it, and create trends for the rightful purpose.”
Let’s talk about Gosha Rubchinskiy here for a moment—the Russian designer whose post-Soviet skater punk chic has a stark energy. Rubchinskiy’s clothes will force you think. Is that a history lesson and a tide of nostalgia encompassed in a few letters on a basic crew neck? How did growing up behind the Iron Curtain affect another person your age on the other side of the globe? It’s the attempt to grapple with anthropology behind runway collections that makes the millennial audience an evolved one.
The name game
On the other end of the spectrum, mainstream luxury labels like Givenchy are changing their game. From a stiff French couture house, Givenchy is now rapped about by Beyoncé. The reverse effect of luxury going street is not unnatural; rather, with the aid of social media and the backing of the right set of brat packs, the line between the two distinct areas of fashion is blurring. After all, Kanye West’s fashion brand Yeezy did brag a prime spot at New York Fashion Week. This season’s highlight was the collaboration with Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing, resulting in a post-apocalyptic-meets-red-carpet line of clothing.
Subcultures are referenced time and again in contemporary fashion. Punk and it’s many iterations remain reference points. But once an obscure brand and everything it stands for is accepted by the staunches gate holders of propriety, will the never-before-heard-of talent stay true to the DNA, or burn out in the spotlight that often doubles as a microscope?
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