Written by Jacqui Palumbo, CNN
Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons will close his eponymous fashion label after 27 years, he announced Monday. Simons shared the unexpected news on Instagram, writing that his brand’s recently unveiled Spring-Summer 2023 collection would be his last..
“Words fail me to share how proud I am of all we have accomplished,” he wrote. “I am grateful for the incredible support from my team, from my partners, from the press and buyers, from my friends and family, and from our devoted fans and loyal supporters. Thank you all for believing in our vision and for believing in me.” .”
Over the course of nearly three decades, Simons has become a widely revered force within the fashion industry. He launched his youth culture-inspired menswear label in 1995 and has held successive creative director roles at Jil Sander, Christian Dior and Calvin Klein before taking up the role of co-creative director at Prada alongside Miuccia Prada in April 2020, a position he still holds. In 2017, he was named Men’s and Women’s Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America for his work at Calvin Klein, and Designer of the Year by the British Fashion Council.
Starting as an underground menswear label in the 1990s, Raf Simons’ label had become a mainstay on major catwalks. Credit: Kristy Sparrow/Getty Images
Simons did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision to discontinue his label.
True to Simons’ history of taking cues from countercultural music scenes, including new wave, punk and electronica, his final collection was unveiled at London’s Printworks, a famed nightclub (and former newspaper factory) that will close next year. The presentation, the first for her brand at London Fashion Week, was delayed due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II and took place in mid-October. For the show, she eschewed the hierarchies common to fashion shows and used the massive space to invite an 800-strong crowd from among and beyond the fashion elite.
Raf Simons previously held positions at Christian Dior (pictured), Jil Sander and Calvin Klein, before assuming the role of co-creative director at Prada in 2020. Credit: Dominique Charriau/WireImage/Getty Images
I didn’t want a show for 300 people sitting in rows,” he told Vogue. “This is a show that is pure democracy. No hierarchy. A London explosion of youth, life, dancing and being together… I was thinking a lot about the body, in relation to dressing, going out and performing.”
In what now seemed to signal the change in his career, Simons printed phrases by the late Belgian painter Philippe Vandenberg on some of the garments in the collection.
“They are cruel words, like ‘Kill them all and dance,'” he said of the footprints. “But (Vandenberg) wasn’t talking about killing people, he was talking about killing things that you’re doing creatively to move on and explore more.”
Source: news.google.com