If you’ve ever ended up in a YouTube k-hole of celebrity closet tours (it happens to the best of us) or just wanted to quote-unquote “steal their look” without resorting to Bling Ring tactics, you are in luck. Grailed is partnering with Lil Yachty on a closet sale featuring over 750 of his own looks that will be sold throughout the week.
The online men’s resale site has previously partnered with stars like Future, G-Eazy, and Pusha T but the closet sale with Yachty is reportedly its largest — and most expensive — ever. To assemble the inventory, a team of Grailed curators visited the rapper’s house and spent 13 hours combing through his personal wardrobe before deciding on the final selection, which includes items from Raf Simons, Supreme, Gucci, and Margiela, and is reportedly worth over $300k. (Side note: Where is this Netflix show?) Next week, which has been dubbed Yacht Week, customers will have the chance to purchase the rapper’s clothing and enter a giveaway contest for free merchandise. A winner will be announced on the last day of the sale.
Yacht Week will take place on Grailed from March 2 – 6.
Raf Simons has a new gig. Starting on April 2, the Belgian designer will join Prada as a co-creative director alongside Miuccia Prada.
“This partnership, encompassing all creative facets of the Prada label, is born from a deep reciprocal respect and from an open conversation – it is a mutual decision, proposed and determined by both parties,” the Italian brand said in a statement. “It opens a new dialogue, between designers widely acknowledged as two of the most important and influential of today.”
In addition to overseeing his own eponymous line, Simons has also enjoyed stints at Jil Sander and Dior. More recently he was appointed creative director of Calvin Klein, where his contributions to the American brand were met with a mixed response. (Read: people liked the clothes but they weren’t buying them.) He unceremoniously stepped down from the brand at the end of 2018. Since his departure, rumors of where Simons would land next moved circulated throughout the industry.
The combination of Prada’s classic elegance with Simons’ affinity for youth and club culture will no doubt breathe new life into the historic label. The first collection with his co-sign will be presented in September in Milan for Spring 2021.
For its first campaign of the year, Raf Simons went for a simple and timeless look. Showcasing the Spring/Summer 2020 collection, which debuted last summer in Paris, Willy Vanderperre photographed a group of models against a stark white purgatory-like backdrop that allowed some of the collection’s loud prints and graphics to really pop. One repeated motif that reads MY OWN PRIVATE ANTWERP is a particular highlight that recalls the dreamy grunge style of the 1991 Gus Van Sant film it pulled its inspiration from. Alienation and anti-commercialism remain at the pulse of Simons’ brand since it launched in 1995 and the latest campaign, styled by Olivier Rizzo, evinces these themes for the new decade as the designer embraces his next chapter.
Take a look at some more of the Raf Simons Spring/Summer 2020 campaign below.
The xx‘s eponymous low-fi debut was a critical hit for its understated production and delicate songcraft upon its release in 2009. And each member was in their early 20’s so they were basically heralded as minimalism wunderkinds. To celebrate the prolific record’s 10th anniversary, the British band is releasing a collection with Raf Simons. The designer announced word of the capsule via Instagram with black-and-white portraits of each band member — he previously worked on the band’s music video for “I Dare You,” the title track of its 2017 (and most recent) album.
The forthcoming capsule will include t-shirts, hats, pins (as seen on each Instagram post), and other accessories, expectedly in the band’s signature brooding minimal style. The Raf Simons x The xx collection will launch in Dover Street Market, select Raf Simons stores, and online on December 12.
CONCEPT 006: 1017 ALYX 9SM, the latest iteration as part of an ongoing store initiative at Nordstrom’s Men’s Store in New York City launched an exclusive collection made in collaboration with the streetwear designer. Previous editions of the CONCEPT series have involved the release of archived Raf Simons pieces and exclusive Dior launches.
“Alyx is rooted in functionality and how it can be incorporated into peoples’ lives,” Sam Lobban, vice president of Nordstrom Men’s, said in a statement. “A lot of times fashion is for fashion’s sake, promoting purely the aesthetic. Matthew balances the aesthetic with making forward-thinking menswear that guys will really want to wear.”
The 40-piece collection is split between four categories: leather, signature, technical, and formal. Anchored by a dark monochromatic color palette, the pieces are able to be integrated into your closet seamlessly and add an extra dimension of street edge to your look.
CONCEPT 006: 1017 ALYX 9SM is available in the New York store and online now.
The New York-based fashion retailer Totokaelo has launched its first official menswear line. While the company has carried menswear in its stores for a while now, this marks the first time the designer has developed its own men’s line from its in-house design team. Following the official launch earlier today, the brand plans to release 3 collections a year.
The inaugural collection is inspired by archival hits from seminal minimalist and avant-garde designers — the limited range of monochromatic pieces has strong ’90s influences that evoke the likes of Helmut Lang, Comme des Garcons, and Raf Simons. Some highlights include a black sheer voile button down, a pleated kilt, and contrast stitching button downs. Basically, seasonless clothing that will probably be seen on gallery assistants in Chelsea all summer long (read: understated yet powerful). It’s a promising first collection that references the past while looking to the future.
The third rollout of Nordstrom Men’s Concept series reintroduces seminal pieces from the archives of Raf Simons and Helmut Lang. Devised by VP of Men’s Fashion Sam Lobban, the Concept initiative was designed to highlight the best menswear finds from across the world, with the first edition launching back in January. The latest, Concept 003: printings.jp, was organized in partnership with Japanese publisher printings.jp, who also created a tw0-volume book set chronicling each designer’s influence.
Of course, then there’s the clothes. Some highlight resurrected pieces from Simons include a David Bowie tank top, a black printed fishtail parka, and a faded camouflage bomber. From Lang, there’s an orange leather jacket and a military-inspired utility vest, which has emerged as one of the years’ biggest trends. Better shop the collection now before it ends up on Grailed.
Concept 003: printings.jp will be open in the Nordstrom Men’s stores in New York, Downtown Seattle, Vancouver, and online until May 30th.
Raf Simons has released its newest campaign for its haunting Spring/Summer ’19 collection. The latest image series (shot by Willy Vanderperre and styled by Olivier Rizzo) maintains the designer’s split-image format, combining intimate shots of models donning the clothes with close-up abstract #detail images. The result is a tender presentation of the latest offering from the designer. Check out the full campaign below.
Photography: Willy Vanderperre Styling: Olivier Rizzo Hair: Anthony Turner Make-up: Lynsey Alexander Casting Director: Ashley Brokaw Models: Luca Lemaire, Maoro Bultheel, David Van Brusselt
Hedi Slimane to Show at Paris Fashion Week Men’s for Fall ’19
Image: Indigital.
After a hotly anticipated and polarizing Celine debut in September, Hedi Slimane will show at Paris Fashion Week Men’s. Taking place later this month, it marks the French label’s first ever official menswear show (though Slimane included a series of menswear looks in his Spring ’19 show — skinny suits, rocker influences, you know the deal) and will serve as an opportunity for the designer to prove he’s more than just a one trick pony. Fingers crossed.
Who will Replace Raf Simons at Calvin Klein?
Image: The Independent.
Raf Simons announced his departure from Calvin Klein at the tail-end of 2018, leaving us with yet another cliffhanger of who will be his successor. Simons was the chief creative officer for the American label for a little under two years and his collections were distinct for their strong and literal inspirations from film and television (his most recent collection featured predominant themes from Jaws, including graphic prints and neoprene diving suits). It would have been nice to see him continue to grow at the house, but so it goes. And there’s still no word on who will replace him yet so we’ve got that to look forward to.
Moschino Takes its Show to Rome
Image: David Maestr. Feature image: Arnaud Lafeuillade.
On January 8th (that’s next week if you can believe it), Moschino will show in Rome as part of Men’s Fashion Week. The Italian designer, which has previously shown in Milan and London, opted for the city’s Cinecittà Studios for its latest presentation as the collection is rumored to be inspired by director Federico Fellini, who filmed some of his greatest work there. Additionally, British designer J.W. Anderson will leave its home of London to present its FW19 collection in Paris later this month.
The First Ever Mugler Exhibition to Open in Montreal
Image: Mugler.
Thierry Mugler, the French designer who earned international acclaim for his spectacular runway shows and futuristic looks in the latter half of the 20th century, will get his first exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts later this spring. Curated by Thierry-Maxime Loriot (who was also responsible for the Jean-Paul Gaultier retrospective that traveled the world a few years ago), it marks the first time the designer’s work will be celebrated in its own show. Set to open on March 3rd, it’s likely that the show will embark on its own world tour in the fall.
Margiela Gets his Own Documentary
Image: Marina Faust.
The ever mysterious Martin Margiela will be the focus on an upcoming documentary chronicling his affluential career. Titled Without Compromise, it’s billed as the first documentary that the reclusive designer himself has agreed to participate in, which is pretty major for a man who’s never released a proper picture of himself. Produced by Dogwoof, who also released the Vivienne Westwood documentary last year, the film is scheduled to premiere at Cannes.
BLDWN, the denim label founded as Baldwin in Kansas City back in 2009, is undergoing a major renovation. Under the creative direction of Johnathan Crocker, the label dropped the vowels from its name (just a day after Hedi Slimane nixed the accent from the Celine logo — is nothing sacred anymore?) in the midst of a total renovation meant to reinvent contemporary American fashion.
“The main focus has been building a modern American fashion brand, and it’s that idea of modernity that I think makes it interesting,” Crocker tells me during the Spring 2019 presentation. “The ideas are so rooted and associated with images of Americana, that modernity in American fashion seems to be a non sequitur.”
There’s been a resurgence in classic American iconography infiltrating fashion, stemming from Lady Gaga’s-cowboy-hat-toting Joanne era to Calvin Klein‘s cowboy-inspired Spring 2018 collection. So reinterpreting it in a more nuanced way seems a good move for the denim brand.
“From a distance, everything should look familiar but as you get closer, you realize there’s something new,” he says, pointing out changes to shirting plackets and other measurements that have been modified ever so slightly, to signify the new change. Check out some of the pieces below.
Raf Simons continues to heavily use literal film references for his Calvin Klein 205W39NYC productions. After referencing horror films for SS18 (like Rosemary’s Baby and Friday the 13th), the gritty Berlin drug biopic Christiane F. for FW19, it appears the designer was heavily inspired by Jaws — the first mainstream shark film — this time around for SS19.
Influences ranged from the literal (with shirts that had Jaws graphics printed on them) to slightly more figurative (like neoprene jumpsuits, which would be practical for shark hunting and other nautical activities). This theme was balanced by a graduation motif (fittingly inspired by The Graduate), which featured models wearing caps and gowns, in addition to the fringy tassels that have become ubiquitous with CK by Raf. Vaquera also did a school theme for its show, but we’ll leave that to Diet Prada to sort out. It’s definitely not a bad idea to use such mainstream references for a collection as it makes it more accessible to those who might not follow fashion as thoroughly as others, but this time it felt as though the inspiration was too literal, threatening to swallow it whole. I’d still wear the fringy pieces though.
