SINCE LAUNCHING HIS EPONYMOUS LABEL IN 1986, HELMUT LANG REDEFINED THE IDEA OF MODERN CLOTHING. THROUGHOUT THE FOLLOWING DECADE, HIS DESIGNS—MINIMAL IN AESTHETIC BUT POWERFUL IN EFFECT—DEMONSTRATED A GROUNDBREAKING AND SUBVERSIVE CONTEXT.
THE NEW HELMUT LANG IS A COMMUNAL, CREATIVE RESPONSE TO THIS LEGACY. IT IS A PLATFORM—A LIVING NETWORK—OF ROTATING DESIGNERS, THINKERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ARTISTS, EACH GIVEN LICENSE TO BOTH DECIPHER AND BUILD OFF OF LANG’S INFLUENCE, WHICH HAD AS MUCH OF A SOCIAL IMPACT AS IT DID ON THE FUNDAMENTALITY OF MEN’S AND WOMEN’S WARDROBES. HELMUT LANG WAS THE FIRST DESIGNER TO PUT FASHION ADVERTISEMENTS ON TAXI CABS, THE FIRST TO CONVINCE PEOPLE TO BUY DENIM AT A DESIGNER PRICE POINT, AND THE FIRST, EVEN, TO LIVE-STREAM A RUNWAY SHOW ONLINE, ALL OF WHICH ARE CONSIDERED STANDARD PRACTICE TODAY.