Raf Simons Hosted a Drug-Fueled Last Supper for Fall/Winter 2018
The Belgian designer’s take on “Youth in Motion.”
Arguably the most anticipated show of New York Fashion Week: Men’s, menswear maestro Raf Simons debuted his Fall/Winter 2018 collection last night to a full house of industry glitterati.
The presentation, dubbed ”Youth In Motion,” took place in midtown Manhattan’s Sir Stage 37, where the catwalk was transformed into a Last Supper tableaux complete with red wine, loaves of bread, piles of fruit and Belgian waffles (all of which were later donated to food rescue organization City Harvest). A searing hard techno soundtrack signaled the models as they marched through a maze-like course under a ceiling showered by flickering multi-colored laser lights, turning the space into a nightclub on par to notorious Berlin hedonistic haven, Berghain.
The collection served as a sartorial homage to both Uli Edel’s disturbing 1981 film Christiane F., which chronicles teenage drug abuse during Cold War-era Germany, and Cookie Mueller and Glenn O’Brien’s mid-1980s tragic-comic play Drugs, which was translated via the sardonic slogans such as “LSD,” “XTC,” “GHB” and “2C-B” that were emblazoned across a rotation of sweaters, trousers and outerwear.
Continuing Spring/Summer 2017’s rave-tinged affair, waxy latex evening gloves and clunky patent leather platform boots were paired with sheeny satin cargo pants and graphic sweaters bearing stills from the aforementioned film. A plethora of bulky peacoats and puffer jackets enveloped the gamut of ultra-slim suiting, while knitwear, a Raf staple, came by way of oversized turtlenecks, droopy cardigans and argyle-patterned bibs.
The show closed with Zombie Nation’s early 2000s trance anthem “Kernkraft 400,” which, comically enough, lifted the range’s dark subject matter. Though a known admirer of rave subcultures, Raf’s latest offering sought to open a dialogue around society’s complicated relationship with drugs and addiction instead of outright projecting a subjective opinion on it.
Check out all the looks from Raf Simons’s Fall/Winter 2018 show above and stay tuned to all our coverage from New York Fashion Week: Men’s.
