From '90s Minimalism to Remixing Fashion Month: Helmut Lang's Lasting Impact on Fashion
In the mid-'90s, Helmut Lang was the king of cool. The Austrian-born designer's career took off as his minimalist style came to define a generation that was previously all about chunky sneakers, parkas, and rave attire. From simple white cotton tanks to androgynous boy-pants and Crombie coats, Lang’s designs inhabited the space between casual attire and sexy elegance. It was a turning point in ‘90s and early 2000s, and changed fashion forever. The modern, sharp-cut look is now a staple seen everywhere thanks to Lang, who celebrates his birthday today.
In tandem with the grunge movement, Lang also integrated key parts of ‘90s fashion that were familiar to other subcultures. Using unconventional materials like rubber, feathers, and metallic fabrics, Lang carefully weaved parts of rave and punk fashion and culture, like bondage harnesses and trash bags, into his designs. While commonplace today, Lang was considered ahead of his time in his modern minimalism and use of high-tech fabrics alongside those of the more unorthodox variety.
The designer showed his first Helmut Lang show in Paris in 1984, and moved the brand to New York City a decade later. He started collaborating with notable designers and stylists, most famously the young English stylist and fashion editor Melanie Ward, who is responsible with discovering model sensation Kate Moss in 1990.
The move to New York City in 1998 was crucial, not only for Lang’s brand but for the entire fashion industry. Lang is actually the reason New York designers show first in fashion month—before Lang had his studio in the Manhattan neighborhood SoHo, the fashion month calendar started in Milan and ended in NYC. But when Lang said he was ready to show earlier, brands like Calvin Klein and Donna Karan followed suit, and the whole calendar shifted in his favor.
In fact, Lang was the first designer to do many things. For one, he became the first to live stream a runway show online (a tactic we’ve seen a lot of in the past year due to pandemic restrictions), presenting his Fall/Winter 1998 collection on the Internet and via CD-ROM. He also cleverly became the first designer to advertise a brand on taxi cabs, something we wouldn’t even think twice about now.
In 2005, a year after selling a large stake of his namesake label to the Prada Group, Lang quit the brand and fashion altogether without so much as a word. He moved out to Long Island and began his career as an artist.
Lang may have left his brand behind, but the fashion world certainly did not. He not only defined the look of the ‘90s, but carved out a distinct space for minimalism and utilitarian style, reconfigured and repurposed by decades of designers in the years after.
