Demna Gvasalia Looks Back at His Once War-Torn Home for Vetements’s SS19 Collection
“I tried to face this angst and fear and pain in this show.”
Announced earlier this spring, Vetements kept true to its word, ditching the sartorial circus that is Paris Fashion Week and chose instead to showcase its Spring/Summer 2019 assemblage during Paris Couture Week. Placing gut-wrenching memories aside, Demna Gvasalia ventured deep into his own personal memory bank with the aim of capturing the true spirit of his war-torn past. “I dedicated this collection to Georgia, the Georgia where my brother Guram and I grew up together in the ’90s, and the war that happened where we lived. I tried to face this angst and fear and pain in this show. I didn’t want to remember before, I didn’t want to go that far,” he expressed in speaking of the collection.
Feeling an overwhelming sense of empathy for those who share such a harrowing history, Gvasalia felt it only right to bring on street-cast Georgian models into the show. “They don’t smile” — a phrase the designer used to characterize his compatriot muses, as each took turns strutting down a wedding reception-esque catwalk that was staged in close proximity to the Boulevard Périphérique — an area of the capital where many displaced migrants sought refuge.
With such prominent observances to pull from, many of the pieces adhered to military-inspired accents, including camo-printed blazers, field jackets, and trousers, along with a swarm of combat boots and a lone bomber jacket spotlighting the text “See this clenched fist?” with the word “Enough” in Georgian laid out beneath. That same military motif — although in a much more somber, Goth-style manner — brought on a wave of masked-clad models, some of whom bore intimidating flak jackets with spike-adorned footwear, aesthetically lending itself to a wider guerilla-style semblance.
In traditional Vetements fashion, sportswear cues also ran rampant throughout, namely, in the full-on tracksuits, sneakers, and hoodies, as did the label’s penchant for elaborate shapes, boxy structures, and overflowing silhouettes — at times fusing all of the aforementioned styles codes within the same ensemble.
Scroll the gallery above for a look and be sure to catch up on our rolling SS19 fashion coverage for more.
