THE NEW NORM
The last few months in the fashion news have all been about Vetements and the strides it’s making in the industry in times when most others are struggling with sales and production and exposure…
Vetements has, within a very short time, garnered to push through and break barriers that most “emerging designers” would only dream of…
Granted Demna has a solid fashion background having been in and around the Antwerp fashion scene, then working with Walter Van Beirendonck, then Margiela, then Louis Vuitton (both under Marc Jacobs era and Nicola Ghesquiere era) and now Balenciaga… but the man is quite visionary for his fashion aspirations.
The success to Vetements can be attributed to one and factor only: not following the convention, but defying and challenging it!
Currently, as is, most designers have the main season collection, but also show a pre-collection, and/or most who are struggling with apparel sales have ventured into handbags (and accessories) and beauty as a quick way to boost sales.
These two ventures are not always favorable for an emerging designer. Not always, specially when it comes to beauty which is a different beast/category on its own, and if you’ve been following the news lately, you’ll notice how most handbag labels are crying out poor sales figures. What used to be the cornerstone of capturing the customer and introducing her to your line, regardless of times and finances is slowly shrinking as most shoppers are racing to the outlets and the discount retailers for handbags instead.
Vetements, rather, focuses on apparel and apparel only. The line is sold twice a year with only two main collections, just like many other designers, but Demna and his team have challenged the norm in the sense that they don’t abide to the traditional fashion calendar for sales! They show their collection much later in the calendar and therefore have a very small window for production, but will deliver goods that will be in the store longer…
I am not a fan of the aesthetics of Vetements (no “shades”, no “hateration”, just not what I would wear!), but I have the utmost respect for their sense of business and challenging the current status quo in fashion. I love and appreciate the hustle the brand exudes and has exuded since its inception: taking what we know and what is very familiar and updating to a look that is more modern and more relatable. The 90s must be the only decade that have yet to be fully celebrated in fashion… Rightfully so, since we’ve used, overused and abused the 80s, dabbled in on the 70s, the 60s and as far back as the Gatsby era, yet the 90s gave us amazing music from R&B to Rock; society revolted and defied the norms, and so given the times that we currently live in, paying homage to the 90s is only fitting.
Vetements is not the most creative brand out there, but is proving to be the most “successful” and talked about with its rapid growth. Demna and his team, following and learning from the iconic brands of the 90s, is building an empire that is following suit to his his predecessors: Karl Kani, Sean John, Marithe Francois Girbaud, or Phat Farm, but on more grounded level while focusing on sales for the most part!
