Demna Gvasalia brought Vetements back to Paris Fashion Week with a Fall '18 collection so original and energetic it brought a breathe of life to the industry in the most Vetements-way possible.
The show was located in the Puces de Paris Saint-Ouen — a collection of 15 or so shops grouped together in a flea market-like setting, and the collection reflected this aesthetic by drawing on a wide range of subcultures, styles and the history of fashion design itself. In typical Vetements style, the high-low feel was brought together into a cohesive collection under Gvasalia's creative eye, with a strong Maison Margiela influence that reflected the designers' three formative years with the house.
"I went back to my roots as a designer, I went back to Margiela," the Georgian-born, Switzerland-based designer told i-D. "I wanted to show what Margiela means for me and for Vetements. What is it? It's an approach, it's not a person. It's a way of loving clothes, breaking the rules with those clothes. And that's what we did."
Gvasalia also warded off inevitable criticisms of what could be perceived as copy cat designs by having kindergarten children draw an 'elephant in the room' sketch recreated on a T-shirt worn in the show, as an acknowledgment of the Margiela-size elephant in the room.
"Everything is an appropriation," Gvasalia said. "We live in a world that is full of references, and references exist to feed us in order to create something new from them. That's the challenge I set for myself."
See a few of the looks from the show below:
Images via Getty