THE RAF SIMONS FALL/WINTER 2011 SHOW

Images from GQ.com.

First, some context. The morning of the show Twitter was abuzz with reports that Raf Simons had split from his commercial partner, the Futurepresent Group, which was responsible for selling Simons’ collections and held the worldwide master license for the label. Later in the day the rumours were confirmed, as it emerged that Futurepresent had sent out an email to store buyers at extremely late notice, cancelling all showroom buying appointments which were scheduled for after the show. Blogs began speculating that the fall/winter 2011 collection would never be produced at best, and that at worst that Simons’ own line would cease to exist. Needless to say this news, coupled with the fact that the invitation bore the words “Rise of the Craftsman. Fall of The Prince. Dead Prince College,” ensured that the show was heavily weighted with a certain poignancy and emotional charge before it had even begun.

And what a show it was. The venue was dimly lit as everyone filed in and took their seats, but as soon as the show began the whole space was flooded with intense white light which was almost uncomfortably bright, and an ascending electro reverberation by the avant-garde German musician Marcus Schmickler played. Simons is never an intentional ‘showman,’ but my God was it a powerful opening. The first look that came out was a duffel coat, luxuriously soft looking in a dark camel colour, cut close to the body, teamed with voluminous, shiny black trousers. The look was pure Simons territory, and it set the tone for the collection which in parts felt retrospective of some of Raf’s greatest hits. The duffel coat is a perennial menswear staple, with a military heritage, more recently favoured by students, musicians and regular young guys, all areas of interest for Simons. Take the fact that the duffel coat originally comes from the town of Duffel, near Antwerp in Belgium, and it’s hard to imagine a more appropriate garment for Raf to rework in his characteristic, highly technically accomplished, unerringly modern way. The glossy black trousers are unlikely to enter many guys’ wardrobes, but for the runway they worked perfectly, offsetting, almost subverting, the soft tradition of the duffel coat, creating a brilliantly striking experimental silhouette. Raf Simons is one of very few menswear designers working today who actually advances fashion.

The soundtrack later gave way to the explicit verses of Eminem and Nicki Minaj (“I’m a bad bitch, I’m a cunt”), hinting at the high-low duality that ran throughout the collection. Simons wanted to celebrate the craftsman, but his vision was miles apart from the resulting romanticised, patronising view of the working classes that such attempts (not least in high fashion, one of the most bourgeois of mediums) often generate. The mohair aprons worn over duffel coats towards the end of the show may have driven the point home almost literally but generally the effect was much more subtle, and much cleverer. As the decidedly ‘low’ music blasted out (and even show veteran Suzy Menkes looked almost alarmed), models paraded past in extraordinary outfits which were tailored to utter perfection, often combining traditional menswear elements (the duffel coat, the parka, the dark suit) with haute couture shapes. A gently cocooned zip-up parka had lines and fluidity which brought to mind the silhouettes of Cristóbal Balenciaga; modernity, and something else to think about, came from the fact that it was fashioned from bright purple neoprene.

Something is definitely lost about this collection looking at the static runway images. All of the clothes had this incredible fluidity and architectural shape to them. Simons truly is a master of geometry and lines and cut, before you even take into account his strikingly powerful messages and cultural references. If ‘dead prince college’ suggested some sort of outmoded aristocracy against which the noble but lowly craftsman (or the urgent, Nicki Minaj and Eminem generation youth) stands, Simons resisted labouring the point. Despite being based around traditional items, and despite being underpinned by extremely high levels of technical skill, the collection felt as unerringly modern and relevant as ever. A scuba-fabric top bearing the slogan ‘Memory Ware Collector’ was presumably a reference to the American artist Mike Kelley whose work of the same name features all sorts of plastic tat set in resin, making something monumental out of everyday ephemera.

Fair Isle knits, vividly bright and cut close to the body, again brought to mind the craftsman, and were teamed either with the wide leg PVC trousers or with Simons’ trademark razor-sharp, immaculately cut slim wool trousers. As big luxury brands including Gucci and Louis Vuitton scramble to play up their craftsmanship and heritage stories as part of their post credit-crisis marketing strategies, Simons’ cutting-edge exploration of the craftsman was particularly well-timed. Coloured fasteners which resembled geometric dominoes fastened some pieces. The geometric modernity which Raf always does so well was also evident in the sleek A line coats with unfussy lines and rear closures, and in the perfectly formed shoes. Latex tops were worn over crisp shirts and ties, while heavy scarves and long, slouchy sweaters brought to mind the real guy, perhaps the Antwerp student on the street, and served as a reminder that Raf can do wearable just as well as he can do avant-garde.

Backstage, after the show, the atmosphere was much less apocalyptic than the bloggers had been predicting earlier in the day. There will doubtless be challenges ahead for Simons on the business side (which in itself is a travesty, given how outrageously talented Raf is), but the mood among his team was upbeat. I heard that the collection will be produced (Futurenet was not responsible for manufacturing) and sold to stores, but it will take a little while for the team to get the infrastructure set up to do so.

I still haven’t really worked out how to put into words what exactly it is about Raf Simons’ work which impacts so strongly on me. Maybe one day I will get there, but all I can say for sure for now is that it really does. I felt emotional after the show, and the fact that P.Diddy was sitting in the front row was barely noticeable because of the genius that we were witnessing on the runway.

A few pictures I took:

Show video:


(Via ASVOF)