Kanye West Might Have Put Vetements on the Map, but Now Fashion's Head Over Heels for the Elusive French Brand
Photography by Roy Beeson
Earlier this week, Kanye West told us at cocktail party for the LVMH Prize—where 26 young designers were showing their collections—that he felt like he was attending the Oscars of fashion for the new guard. One of the nascent brands in that group can certainly thank the rapper for the boon to their business. West was an early adopter of Vetements, which is comprised of a compendium of designers. The rapper attended collective’s show last season and went on to buy several pieces, putting the Vetements on the sartorial map. The group’s head designer is Demna Gvasalia, a graduate of the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium who worked at Maison Martin Margiela and Louis Vuitton. “When we started, it was just something to do on the side,” the designer told Yahoo Style at his underground showroom in the 10th arrondissement. “Just to get away from the day to day. And then people wanted to buy the clothes so we just kept going,”
The clothes are not your typical Parisian finery. In fact, Gvasalia describes them as “the pieces that you want to wear that are a little f—ked up.” The line includes pieces for men and women, although it is really not divided as such. Hugely oversized coats and bomber jackets with super elongated sleeves, floral dresses that were taken apart at the back and replaced with a floor-length panel of sweatshirt material, and vintage Levis that were deconstructed and reconstructed in a mismatched way were some of the standout pieces from the new Fall collection. West is the Pied Piper of the fashionable cool kids and they will definitely follow him here. “He started buying the clothes and now we’re friends,” says Gvasalia.
The collective includes eight people total that includes Gvasalia’s brother who oversees sales and other designers that he has worked with along the way. Though they didn’t want to give their names, they didn’t mind being photographed together for the first time. Take a look at the designers—and their impressive clothes—you’ll be hearing a lot more about them in the near future!
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