Guram Gvasalia launched the Vetements offshoot VTMNTS going on two years ago, as an all-genders collection with a strong foundation in tailoring and more than a whiff of the provocative Vetements attitude. We got our first and only IRL look at the label on the Paris runway last March; the vibe then leaned fierce with at least one model bearing bruises and scrapes (all makeup) and a hard-charging soundtrack. Atmosphere counts for a lot, and he created an unforgettable one at that show, but in an interview at the time Gvasalia preferred to talk about cut and fit, and the great lengths the team goes to developing their proprietary materials.
On a call from the company’s headquarters today, Gvasalia spoke just as intensely about the clothes, maybe more so given the moment. “There are no gimmicks, no messages, no overthinking,” he said. “It’s clothing with no strings attached.” The expense of the runway, the spectacle of the celebrities in the front row—those costs get factored into the price of clothes, he pointed out. With inflation still high and the year anniversary of the war in Ukraine approaching, the way he sees it, there’s just no vibe for super-expensive, superfluous-to-needs clothes right now. “In the current time, we’re looking out for ourselves and what we spend the money for,” Gvasalia said.
The idea, instead, was to create essentials, “really good quality clothes at the best possible prices.” What that translates to is a lineup of elevated everyday garments—double-breasted suits, button-downs, trenches, letterman jackets, and an array of denim, all of it nearly entirely devoid of graphics or prints. Most of it was photographed theirs-and-theirs style. Of course, the same outfit looks different on differently gendered bodies. The guys wear their trousers low, with briefs peeking out above the waistband (the only place you’ll see logos), and the girls wear them high, with a belt cinched tight. Shoulder lines are exaggerated in the inverse: traditional fit on men, and oversized on women.
A cropped puffer is worn by the female model and the full-sized puffer by the male, but it could just as easily have been the other way around. Last season at VTMNTS, the midriff was an all-gender erogenous zone. Overall, though, the message was one of (relative) restraint, not flash. Economic crisis, global conflict—we didn’t even get around to talking about A.I. chatbots. There’s enough noise in the world. “Clothes don’t need to scream,” he said, “to be something you love.”
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