“Materials are just materials, they are here to serve you, the subject is what you want to express” Louise Bourgeois as told to Helmut Lang
Helmut Lang’s clothing designs favored an urban, modern, androgynous and minimalist aesthetic. His clothes are deconstructed yet glamorous and often include subtle mixes of cheap and expensive fabrics and different feels and textures like varnished denim paired with soft transparent layers. Though beautifully cut and tailored his clothing became known as avant garde through his choice of materials and his decisions around pairings and comparisons: see through and opaque, hard and soft, metallic and matte, new and recycled. I have always been drawn to his clothes because as the caption reads on one of his eyewear marketing campaigns his aim is, “to promote an intellectual and fearless appearance.”
Helmut Lang admits that he never wanted to be designer, but rather an artist who just happened to end up in fashion. Most of his friends in Vienna were artists and he enjoyed close relationships and collaborated with Jenny Holzer and Louise Bourgeois prior to his retirement from fashion in 2005. If one looks back historically at his marketing campaigns and designs one can see that his interest in art was always at the forefront. Rather than use images of himself or his clothes in advertising he worked with photographers like Jurgen Teller and Bruce Weber to tell other stories. He used images such as 85 year old Louise Bourgeois wearing a crown or from Robert Mapplethorpe’s archives, her holding a phallus. He collaborated with Jenny Holzer on an installation for the Florence Biennale, called, “I Smell You on My Clothes,” representing how the smell left behind in a room or on a piece of clothing creates memories of the person who left them. They worked together on a poem, Holtzer on the LED that streamed the text and Lang created the scent. This collaboration was re-cycled into the décor of Lang’s stores as well as into his perfume ads, “I Smell You on My Skin”. He collaborated with Bourgeois on a t-shirt and scarves and was one of the first designers to stream his runway show on the internet.
He approached the design of clothing in a similar manner to how he now views his art: an interest in materials and transforming them. As a fashion designer his approach was building or “sculpting” something around a body, now in his view he is building the body. In both contexts he often relied on recycled materials. This sensibility can be seen in his current exhibit at the Sperone Westwater gallery in New York City. For me the compelling aspect of the work is of course how it relates to clothing and the theme of reinvention or as we have been talking about all week, creative recycling. Following a fire in his Soho studio he took what remained of his fashion archive, put it into an industrial shredder and has spent the last 5 years working on how to re-imagine his collection. Taking the result he cast the mix in different color pigments and resins. The shredded clothing re-appears as sculptures in long metal tubes that are 10-12 feet high. One feels upon entering the exhibit that you are in a stark and magical forest until you look closely you can see bits of fabric, tags and other memories of clothing.
In ending I return to the quote at the beginning as a way to think about our relationship to clothing. I might change the quote to say, “Clothes are just clothes, they are here to serve you, YOU are what you want to express”. This gives us the freedom to choose clothing not necessarily based on designer or price, old or new but as materials we use to express our identity and to imprint our memory in the spaces within which we move.
To see more of Helmut Lang’s fashion, art and advertising see my Pinterest board.
Indeed I do feel like a sculptor sometimes, or like a painter at other times when I am working with color. This is in fact my aim, as I choose what to wear on a daily basis.
Thanks so much for giving us these pictures (in words and photos) of Helmut Lang’s ideas and current work.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I am really interested in those who are reinventing themselves at a later time of his life. It sounds like you are reinventing yourself everyday.
Oh yes … I definitely feel like a sculptor … and sometimes a painter. Oh your words …
"This gives us the freedom to choose clothing not necessarily based on designer or price, old or new but as materials we use to express our identity and to imprint our memory in the spaces within which we move."
Ring so true to me. So beautifully said. I can not tell you how much I appreciate the intellectual thought you bring … not only to fashion … but even more so … in the realization of what can go into the choices we make … when clothing ourselves.
xoxo
Tamera
Tamara my dear
That is such a great thing about clothing and I guess what can bring us pleasure is the "imagining" and storytelling we do with it. When clothing is your instrument you are empowered. You wear the clothes, rather than them wearing you.
Lyn
Oh yes … I definitely feel like a sculptor … and sometimes a painter. Oh your words …
"This gives us the freedom to choose clothing not necessarily based on designer or price, old or new but as materials we use to express our identity and to imprint our memory in the spaces within which we move."
Ring so true to me. So beautifully said. I can not tell you how much I appreciate the intellectual thought you bring … not only to fashion … but even more so … in the realization of what can go into the choices we make … when clothing ourselves.
xoxo
Tamera
Tamara my dear
That is such a great thing about clothing and I guess what can bring us pleasure is the "imagining" and storytelling we do with it. When clothing is your instrument you are empowered. You wear the clothes, rather than them wearing you.
Lyn
Your blog is so stimulating and refreshing, thank you. For myself, I feel I’m in the process of becoming who I already am rather than reinventing. Dressing each day feels more like donning costume, for the moment anyway.
Corinne,
I like that even better, becoming who you already are, well said. I do like the notion of "donning a costume" and performing life.
Wonderful! Exactly what I had hoped, I want readers to see the power that clothing can give you to be creative and express yourself in a truly unique way. Glad you found me too!
I never thought of sculpting the body in this way. You’ve opened my mind to looking at fashion elements in a different way. I think I’ve been too one dimensional with fashion: seeing it as adornment. Thank you for the ideas presented here. I’m glad I found your blog.
Corinne,
I like that even better, becoming who you already are, well said. I do like the notion of "donning a costume" and performing life.
Wonderful! Exactly what I had hoped, I want readers to see the power that clothing can give you to be creative and express yourself in a truly unique way. Glad you found me too!
Hi Lyn,
Absolutley. Growing up the precocious daughter of a very intellectual artist/mother (painter), I learned that choosing my style (from hair, to shoes, to attitude) was, in fact, art. It was a deeply personal expression, this act of creating something on the blank canvas of myself. Now, nearing fifty and going through a rather intense period of self reclamation, I find I am "recycling and repurposing" much of my younger self, as if it had gone through a shredder of sorts. With a renewed zest for creating a style, I look at each outfit in several mirrors with different lighting and from different angles. I enjoy layers and carving into them with belts, scarves, who knows what! I sometimes take an entire afternoon creating new outfits, sometimes in my head or out shopping but more often with scissors and courage! Thank you for creating a space where our style choices go beyond the superficial to the essence of personal, intentional and intellectual expression.
Thank you, I love the last sentence because it really was the purpose I wanted to achieve setting out. I would love to see some of your creations and your prose paints such a beautiful picture of you at work on the project of yourself. So happy you found the blog, I look forward to hearing more from you.
Hi Lyn,
Absolutley. Growing up the precocious daughter of a very intellectual artist/mother (painter), I learned that choosing my style (from hair, to shoes, to attitude) was, in fact, art. It was a deeply personal expression, this act of creating something on the blank canvas of myself. Now, nearing fifty and going through a rather intense period of self reclamation, I find I am "recycling and repurposing" much of my younger self, as if it had gone through a shredder of sorts. With a renewed zest for creating a style, I look at each outfit in several mirrors with different lighting and from different angles. I enjoy layers and carving into them with belts, scarves, who knows what! I sometimes take an entire afternoon creating new outfits, sometimes in my head or out shopping but more often with scissors and courage! Thank you for creating a space where our style choices go beyond the superficial to the essence of personal, intentional and intellectual expression.
Thank you, I love the last sentence because it really was the purpose I wanted to achieve setting out. I would love to see some of your creations and your prose paints such a beautiful picture of you at work on the project of yourself. So happy you found the blog, I look forward to hearing more from you.
Absolutely lovely read! Lang was on my mind quite a bit last summer after I had acquired a translucent washed silk top from his spring 1998 collection- a show which was the first to be broadcast over the world wide web.
I do love the very act of "carving out" a shape until you get down to the surface you envision, the process of getting there is just as meaningful as the final look before you walk out the door. xx, Claire
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I am really interested in those who are reinventing themselves at a later time of his life. It sounds like you are reinventing yourself everyday.
Ah that top sounds like such a fantastic find. I agree I am a fan of process and being in the moment, it makes for some delicious outcomes
Absolutely lovely read! Lang was on my mind quite a bit last summer after I had acquired a translucent washed silk top from his spring 1998 collection- a show which was the first to be broadcast over the world wide web.
I do love the very act of "carving out" a shape until you get down to the surface you envision, the process of getting there is just as meaningful as the final look before you walk out the door. xx, Claire
Ah that top sounds like such a fantastic find. I agree I am a fan of process and being in the moment, it makes for some delicious outcomes
I’ve learned so much from your blog. Today, about Helmut Lang, but also about myself. I’ve often thought about outfits as sculptures or pieces of art which are a never ending source of experimentation and transformative enjoyment.
Oh my, you are such an artist . The way you compose yourself in photos, how you drape and arrange your clothes, the placement of a hat. You are a genius!
I’ve learned so much from your blog. Today, about Helmut Lang, but also about myself. I’ve often thought about outfits as sculptures or pieces of art which are a never ending source of experimentation and transformative enjoyment.
Oh my, you are such an artist . The way you compose yourself in photos, how you drape and arrange your clothes, the placement of a hat. You are a genius!