7 ways Vetements changed fashion forever
When Demna Gvasalia’s nonconformist label Vetements arrived on the global fashion scene in 2014, the designer was immediately heralded as a rule breaker. Back then, the word “disruptive” wasn’t a part of the industry’s vernacular. News of Vetements’ AW15 show at Paris’s infamous sex club Le Dépôt travelled fast—not just because Gvasalia had the nerve to subvert our most clichéd wardrobe staples (the biker jacket, track pants and the hoodie) with powerful trompe l'oeil design techniques that drew parallels with Martin Margiela, but he also turned the lens on the industry itself, casting then Vetements stylist Lotta Volkova and fashion photographer Harley Weir as models. “I started Vetements because I was bored of fashion,” the Georgian designer revealed in an official statement released today, “and against all odds fashion did change once and forever since Vetements appeared.”
As he steps down from his role at Vetements, Vogue looks back at the label’s enduring legacy.
Gvasalia set his own fashion calendar
Vetements showed womenswear during menswear and hoodies at haute couture: “We started the brand from scratch and I cannot adapt a four-year-old brand to industry rules that are a century old,” he told The Guardian of his decision to go against the traditional fashion calendar.
Vetements threw out the negative connotations of “ugly”
The thinking underpinning the “dad” sneaker revival and the elevation of the humble Ikea Frakta bag was resoundingly egalitarian. “I think it’s very interesting, the definition of ugly,” the technically trained designer said at the Vogue Forces of Fashion panel in 2017. “I think it’s also very interesting to find this line where ugly becomes beautiful or where beautiful becomes ugly. That’s a challenge I like. I think that’s a part of what fashion stands for and I like that people think my clothes are ugly; I think it’s a compliment.”
We welcomed fiercely casual luxury wear
Plenty of designers were doing luxury sportswear when Vetements launched, but when it came to tone, Vetements proved untouchable. The USP? Gvasalia’s deconstructionist designs were about futurism and nocturnal subcultures rather than notions of gym-friendly fashion. His handiwork catapulted down-tempo casualwear to the height of luxury. "I wouldn’t say it’s sportswear as such, but rather the sportswear aesthetic. What interests me is this modernity of comfort, of functionality, of technicity. It’s become almost futuristic,” Gvasalia told Vogue in 2017.
NY, London, Paris, Milan… Zurich
Beyond the unlikeliest of show venues (Les Puces de Saint-Ouen flea market, Galeries Lafayette—during regular store hours—and McDonald’s on the Champs-Élysées), Gvasalia also famously removed himself from a traditional “fashion city”, swapping Paris for Zurich in 2017. “I do most of my research on my screen, so I can be anywhere; what does it matter?” he told The Guardian with the candour of a tech entrepreneur.
The fashion industry got a chance to show their appreciation for DHL Was the DHL
T-shirt a scam or subversion? We’re still not sure. What we do know is that this is the moment when fashion (finally) collided with meme culture and DHL delivery trucks became Instagram’s most coveted backdrop. For the stylists and their assistants who rely on DHL daily, sometimes hourly, those yolk-yellow T-shirts were a nod to the behind-the-scenes toiling that goes into maintaining fashion’s aspirational gloss.
The celebrities wanted it as badly as we did
Vetements didn’t seek out celebrity endorsement but, seemingly overnight, the most familiar faces wanted in. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, Celine Dion, Rihanna and just about every other modern music mogul were embracing thrash metal casualwear. “Being down to earth is the new black,” Gvasalia told Vogue at the time.
Vetements did a show made up entirely of collaborations
Vetements flexed a previously unseen degree of confidence with its SS17 collection; a show made up exclusively of product created with other brands. Brioni, Schott, Levi’s, Comme des Garçons Shirt, Canada Goose, Dr. Martens, Manolo Blahnik, Champion, Juicy Couture and Reebok (to name a few) were a part of the ensemble cast. Gvasalia also later teamed up with Umbro and Tommy Hilfiger. "Initially, Vetements didn’t have a good production base,” Gvasalia told Loïc Prigent at the Vogue Paris Fashion Festival conference in 2018. “I came up with the idea of using the expertise and experience of certain labels by asking them to collaborate with us.”
When Demna Gvasalia’s nonconformist label Vetements arrived on the global fashion scene in 2014, the designer was immediately heralded as a rule breaker. Back then, the word “disruptive” wasn’t a part of the industry’s vernacular. News of Vetements’ AW15 show at Paris’s infamous sex club Le Dépôt travelled fast—not just because Gvasalia had the nerve to subvert our most clichéd wardrobe staples (the biker jacket, track pants and the hoodie) with powerful trompe l'oeil design techniques that drew parallels with Martin Margiela, but he also turned the lens on the industry itself, casting then Vetements stylist Lotta Volkova and fashion photographer Harley Weir as models. “I started Vetements because I was bored of fashion,” the Georgian designer revealed in an official statement released today, “and against all odds fashion did change once and forever since Vetements appeared.”
As he steps down from his role at Vetements, Vogue looks back at the label’s enduring legacy.
Gvasalia set his own fashion calendar
Vetements showed womenswear during menswear and hoodies at haute couture: “We started the brand from scratch and I cannot adapt a four-year-old brand to industry rules that are a century old,” he told The Guardian of his decision to go against the traditional fashion calendar.
Vetements threw out the negative connotations of “ugly”
The thinking underpinning the “dad” sneaker revival and the elevation of the humble Ikea Frakta bag was resoundingly egalitarian. “I think it’s very interesting, the definition of ugly,” the technically trained designer said at the Vogue Forces of Fashion panel in 2017. “I think it’s also very interesting to find this line where ugly becomes beautiful or where beautiful becomes ugly. That’s a challenge I like. I think that’s a part of what fashion stands for and I like that people think my clothes are ugly; I think it’s a compliment.”
We welcomed fiercely casual luxury wear
Plenty of designers were doing luxury sportswear when Vetements launched, but when it came to tone, Vetements proved untouchable. The USP? Gvasalia’s deconstructionist designs were about futurism and nocturnal subcultures rather than notions of gym-friendly fashion. His handiwork catapulted down-tempo casualwear to the height of luxury. "I wouldn’t say it’s sportswear as such, but rather the sportswear aesthetic. What interests me is this modernity of comfort, of functionality, of technicity. It’s become almost futuristic,” Gvasalia told Vogue in 2017.
NY, London, Paris, Milan… Zurich
Beyond the unlikeliest of show venues (Les Puces de Saint-Ouen flea market, Galeries Lafayette—during regular store hours—and McDonald’s on the Champs-Élysées), Gvasalia also famously removed himself from a traditional “fashion city”, swapping Paris for Zurich in 2017. “I do most of my research on my screen, so I can be anywhere; what does it matter?” he told The Guardian with the candour of a tech entrepreneur.
The fashion industry got a chance to show their appreciation for DHL Was the DHL
T-shirt a scam or subversion? We’re still not sure. What we do know is that this is the moment when fashion (finally) collided with meme culture and DHL delivery trucks became Instagram’s most coveted backdrop. For the stylists and their assistants who rely on DHL daily, sometimes hourly, those yolk-yellow T-shirts were a nod to the behind-the-scenes toiling that goes into maintaining fashion’s aspirational gloss.
The celebrities wanted it as badly as we did
Vetements didn’t seek out celebrity endorsement but, seemingly overnight, the most familiar faces wanted in. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, Celine Dion, Rihanna and just about every other modern music mogul were embracing thrash metal casualwear. “Being down to earth is the new black,” Gvasalia told Vogue at the time.
Vetements did a show made up entirely of collaborations
Vetements flexed a previously unseen degree of confidence with its SS17 collection; a show made up exclusively of product created with other brands. Brioni, Schott, Levi’s, Comme des Garçons Shirt, Canada Goose, Dr. Martens, Manolo Blahnik, Champion, Juicy Couture and Reebok (to name a few) were a part of the ensemble cast. Gvasalia also later teamed up with Umbro and Tommy Hilfiger. "Initially, Vetements didn’t have a good production base,” Gvasalia told Loïc Prigent at the Vogue Paris Fashion Festival conference in 2018. “I came up with the idea of using the expertise and experience of certain labels by asking them to collaborate with us.”
