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SS21; Major Moment | Raf Simons
Raf Simons has such a recognisable aesthetic.
For this collection, despite it being his first foray into Women’s Ready-to-Wear for his own label, Simons has had plenty of practice.
If you compare this collection to the ones he’s done for other houses (Dior, Calvin Klein, even the recent Prada collaboration), you’d undeniably see similarities.
And is that such a bad thing?
Isn’t that what designers of today are supposed to do….take their point-of-view and merge it with a label’s codes and resources?
At this point, Simons has become synonymous with somewhat intellectual – and possibly clinical – clothing imbued with a rebellious, youthful spirit and deeply artistic references.
So it is no surprise that for this first co-ed collection, this is what he presented.
Entitled “Teenage Dreams” Simmons presented both a runway show and a film in which he claimed:
“I don’t want to show clothes, I want to show my attitude, my past, present, and future. I use memories and future visions and try to place them in today’s world.”
And in keeping with this idea of youth, Simons takes inspiration from 80s cult classic films, such as “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Alice In Wonderland,” and “Alien.”
The film version of the collection also highlights three Joy Division songs: “Isolation,” “Incubation,” and “Disorder,” which seem to be very appropriate given the current global climate.
Simons is a designer who enjoys seeking inspiration from other creative mediums, taking their tropes and working it into his garments.
So out came slouchy, cool, 80s-esque pieces that screamed of angst and teenage revolution.
There were lots and lots of great separates here; silk skirts, colourful turtlenecks, knit vests, chunky sweaters, spliced blazers, stylised with anarchical quotes such as “Welcome Home Children of the Revolution’, ‘Question Everything’ and ‘Youth Against.’
And then, of course, there were the funky psychedelic prints that Simons skilfully used to add to these horrific and retro-cinematic undertones.
Simons proves once again that he is a master of keeping in touch with the mood-of-the-moment and combining it with strong cultural references and skilful tailoring.
To have a recognisable aesthetic and relatively signature silhouettes in such a saturated industry is no easy feat – but there’s a reason Simons sits the top of the fashion pyramid and has enjoyed success for approximately 30 years in what can also be a dark and tumultuous profession.
See the rest of the collection here.
Enjoy!
xx
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