The answer to that “if you could only wear one designer for the rest of your life” question is, for me, always and indisputably Helmut Lang. Quality, minimal tailoring, a solid drape and damn nice leather jackets have somehow looked impossibly chic for years now: the subtlety and consistency of the whole shebang always makes me want to buy every last piece even if nothing really amazing or new has happened there in years. Twitter blew up over those Van Gogh prints at Rodarte this season, but the Richard-Serra-inspired texture prints and architectural cuts at Helmut Lang’s first runway show in years interested me so much more — again, the subtlety is so much more compelling than the loud, flashy, and obvious.
So of course, Luxirare’s recent post of old Helmut Lang ad campaigns kicked me off on another ridiculous internet research spiral for more. Awesome photographers (Mapplethorpe, Juergen Teller, Bruce Weber), uncomfortably close or decontextualized macro shots, and that vague, disconnected, and blasé sexuality — it’s basically perfect, NBD.
