Designer Spotlight: Vetements

By Natasha Marsh
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As a fan of streetwear fashion, I couldn’t be happier that Vetements has become a worldwide name. Similar to off-white, and hood-by-air, Vetements is a brand that has taken over streetwear. Vetements, pronounced vet-MAHN is French for “clothes.” The leaders of this buzzing streetwear collective are former Louis Vuitton and Masion Margiela designer Demna Gvasalia, and brother Guram Gvasalia.

The brothers aim to design two collections a year with the hope to stop overproduction, thus cleaning up the fashion industry. The brand officially launched in Fall 2014, however, many consider this a soft landing as they did not yet appear in fashion week until the next collection. Guram Gvasalia was the one to commercialize the brand, arranging showroom presentation and relationships with buyers, until they secured a spot on the catwalk. Fashion soon knew Vetements in 2015 when a model walked down the runway in a yellow DHL t-shirt. Various fashion experts were appalled at the design, including Trend Analyst Aleksandra Szymanska, and the DHL team saying that Vetements was ruining the fashion industry.

However, the DHL t-shirt had more likes than dislikes. This practical streetwear brand quickly started appealing to the likes of Kanye West, Rihanna, and Kylie Jenner. The fashion industry had no choice but to accept the brand to move with the zeitgeist.

In fact, fashion critic Robin Givhan, from The Washington Post set the scene by stating, “Gvasalia propose individual, individualistic items, designed to stand by themselves. They’re clothing people, not fashioning them.”

Fashion insiders who are concerned at the rate of which fashion is moving and the demand of the consumer are quite pleased with Vetements approach. Gvasalia clothing can be paired with any one garment and can fit in any season. Thus, challenge the obsolescence of the fashion industry.
Vetements will continue to succeed with their oversized pants and overcoats, simple constructed t-shirts, asymmetrical shapes, and distressed denim. See below our favorite celebrities sporting the brand.

So what’s next for Vetements? Demna and Guram plan to make the clothing more affordable so more followers can purchase pieces. The dilemma they face is with the maintaining the high standard quality at an affordable asking price. The issue I see with this lies in the essence of luxury. Luxury prides itself on exclusivity, it will be interesting to see how celebrities and the upper class react to the brand if everyone can now afford it. I guess we will worry about that when it happens.

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