Helmut Lang (fashion brand) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Helmut Lang fashion

Fashion

Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...

brand

Brand

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

was created by Austrian fashion designer Helmut Lang

Helmut Lang (fashion designer)

-Biography:Helmut Lang is an Austrian artist who lives and works in New York and on Long Island. Lang established his name-stake trademark in 1978 and presented his first international presentation at Centre Georges Pompidou in 1986, and has since his retirement from fashion in 2005, continued to...

(born 1956) in 1986. One of fashion’s most independent and visionary minds, Helmut Lang’s utilitarian designs came to define the 90’s. Throughout his almost 30 year tenure in fashion, he consistently challenged the industry’s embedded rules and became one of its pivotal leaders.

The Helmut Lang brand still exists today, but has been carried on without Mr. Lang's involvement since 2005.

Lang is known for his minimalist, deconstructivist, and often severe designs. His fashion house became famous in the late 1980s for its simple but refined designs, its slim suits

Suit (clothing)

In clothing, a suit is a set of garments made from the same cloth, consisting of at least a jacket and trousers. Lounge suits are the most common style of Western suit, originating in the United Kingdom as country wear...

in black or white, its denim

Denim

Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim has been in American usage since the late 18th century...

collection, and the use of high-tech fabrics. Helmut Lang fashions were sold in upscale

Luxury good

Luxury goods are products and services that are not considered essential and associated with affluence.The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of civilization. Its role was just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in modern societies...

department stores and through select retailers, as well as in signature Helmut Lang stores around the world. In 1999, Lang entered into a partnership with Prada Group which resulted in the acquisition

Takeover

In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company by another . In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.- Friendly takeovers :Before a bidder makes an offer for another...

of the Helmut Lang brand by Prada

Prada

Prada S.p.A. is an Italian fashion label specializing in luxury goods for men and women , founded by Mario Prada.-Foundations:...

in 2004, and Mr. Lang's departure

Resignation

A resignation is the formal act of giving up or quitting one's office or position. It can also refer to the act of admitting defeat in a game like chess, indicated by the resigning player declaring "I resign", turning his king on its side, extending his hand, or stopping the chess clock...

from the label in 2005. Prada consequently sold it to Link Theory of Japan in 2006. Link Theory re-launched the Helmut Lang label with new designers in 2007. Since then, Helmut Lang fashions have been available again at upscale

Luxury good

department stores and signature Helmut Lang boutiques worldwide.

The label

Lang, a fashion autodidact, set up a made-to-measure fashion studio

Studio

A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...

in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

in 1977 and opened a boutique

Boutique

A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....

there in 1979, at the age of 23. His clothes were fairly successful in his native Austria, and, after presenting his work as part of an exhibition titled "l'Apocalypse Joyeuse" at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, initiated by the Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n government, he branched out successfully to Paris in 1986 and created the label "Helmut Lang".

At this time in the late 1980s and early 1990s, minimalist fashion was at its height. His clothes were made with very sharp lines and careful cuts, creating basic but extremely elegant silhouette

Silhouette

A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...

s in high quality and often high-tech fabrics. His work has been compared to Rei Kawakubo

Rei Kawakubo

is a Japanese fashion designer, founder of Comme des Garçons.She is untrained as a fashion designer, but studied fine arts and literature at Keio University. After graduation, Kawakubo worked in a textile company and began working as a freelance stylist in 1967....

and Yohji Yamamoto

Yohji Yamamoto

Yōji Yamamoto , is an award winning Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. Yohji is considered to be among the master tailors whose work is thought to be of fashion genius and he has been described by Julie Gilhart, fashion director for Barney's New York as probably the only designer...

for his sometimes austere, intellectual designs.

New York City

Lang moved to New York in 1997 and subsequently set up his company's headquarters in 80 Greene St. in SoHo

SoHo

SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...

in 1998. In New York, he decided in April 1998, three days before his designs were to be presented to a New York audience, to show his collection through a live internet broadcast

Webcast

A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...

to the world, via the newly created company's web site. As a first in the fashion industry, ads for the brand could be seen on New York taxi tops from 1998 to 2004. The following season he announced to show his collections not only before New York Fashion Week

New York Fashion Week

The semi-annual New York Fashion Week, branded Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek in 2009, is held in February and September of each year in New York City. It is one of four major fashion weeks held around the world .-History:The first New York Fashion Week, then called Press Week, was the world's first...

, but also before the Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

and Paris runway shows

Fashion show

A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase his or her upcoming line of clothing during Fashion Week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter seasons. This is where the latest fashion trends are made...

. As a result, with many American designers following suit, New York Fashion Week was permanently moved up six weeks to herald the established runway shows. From 2000 on, unconventional print ads for the brand were placed with National Geographic magazine.

Helmut Lang fashion

Throughout the years, both a women's and men's line existed, kept under a single name and always presented in one fashion show. Underwear (1995) and jeans (1996) lines as well as accessories, such as footwear (1990) and fragrances (1999) were launched, but otherwise the brand was kept unified to solidify its identity and strength.

The runway show venues for the Helmut Lang label were switched from Paris (until 1998) to New York by Mr. Lang and back again to Paris by Prada (from 2002 to 2005). The collections/presentations used to be called ("working sessions") by Mr. Lang.

Prada partnership

In 1999, Milan-based fashion house Prada acquired 51% of the Helmut Lang company in the course of a multi-brand strategy, which also included the acquisition of German fashion label Jil Sander

Jil Sander

Heidemarie Jiline 'Jil' Sander is a minimalist German fashion designer and the founder of the Jil Sander fashion house....

.

After alleged disputes with Prada Group's CEO Patrizio Bertelli on how the brand should be continued, and after Mr. Lang had sold his remaining shares to Prada in October 2004, he left his own label in January 2005. Lang joined the growing number of designer departures, including Jil Sander from her own label at Prada and Tom Ford

Tom Ford

Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford is an American fashion designer and film director. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label before directing the Oscar-nominated film A Single Man.-Early life :Tom Ford was born August 27, 1961 in...

from Gucci

Gucci

The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...

. However, Mr. Lang has publicly maintained that he had "no problem" with Mr. Bertelli.

Acquisition by Link Theory

On March 17, 2006, Prada Group announced that, after six loss-making years, Link Theory Holdings

Theory (brand)

Theory is a New York-based men's and women's contemporary fashion label known for its clean-line and luxuriously simple clothes and accessories. Theory merchandise is sold through signature Theory stores and upscale retailers around the world...

(LTH) of Tokyo would be acquiring the Helmut Lang brand for an estimated €

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

20 million. This came about three weeks after Prada had sold the Jil Sander label to British equity firm Change Capital Partners (CCP). Already in spring 2005, it had been rumored that Prada was trying to sell the label. Prada Group was said to want to concentrate on its core labels, Prada and Miu Miu

Miu Miu

Miu Miu is a high fashion brand from the Prada fashion house, opened in 1993 and headed by Miuccia Prada. The name of the collection is taken from Miuccia Prada’s nickname.-Stores:...

, again. The Japanese holding company

Holding company

A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...

LTH, developer of the theory

Theory (brand)

fashion label in Japan and the US, re-launched the Helmut Lang collections under the direction of a "suitable" designer for the spring/summer 2007 season (presented in fall 2006), in select boutiques worldwide as a "contemporary brand". The new label was said to be based out of New York City. LTH also owns profitable German fashion house Rosner, which it bought in late October 2005, as well as the Joie, PLS+T and Kulson labels.

It was never expected that Lang himself would return to the label that bears his name, although Chikara Sasake, president and chief executive of LTH, gave to understand that if Lang "wants to come back, the door is always open".

Helmut Lang brand re-launch

In May 2006, it was announced that Michael and Nicole Colovos, an American-New Zealand designer couple, who formerly had their own Los Angeles-based denim label Habitual, had been installed by Link Theory as creative director

Creative Director

A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....

s for the new Helmut Lang brand. From February 2007, select upscale retailers such as Barneys or Bergdorf Goodman

Bergdorf Goodman

Bergdorf Goodman is a luxury goods department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son Andrew Goodman....

started to carry the spring/summer 2007 Helmut Lang contemporary sportswear

Sportswear

Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons....

collection. The design office has been set up in West Chelsea

Chelsea, Manhattan

Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...

in New York. The collection, described as "a commercial reduction of [Mr. Lang's] fashion identity", has received quite favorable reviews even though it is clearly not seen as a continuation of the original line. The item prices in the collection are about 20% above those for comparable theory

Theory (brand)

items and, hence, below the original Helmut Lang prices. Link Theory expects to generate US$ 8 million in revenue

Revenue

In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....

s in 2008, and make a profit in 2009 with the label. The company also announced that "over the long term" they intend "to also establish exclusive Helmut Lang shops" in the US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Europe and Japan.

The Helmut Lang web site was re-activated at the end of 2006 and was fully launched in spring 2007. Mr. Lang, who now resides on Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

of independent means, is said not to be involved in the label's re-launch in any way.

Original stores (until 2005)

All of the original, art-inspired signature Helmut Lang stores that existed in Vienna, Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Milan, Paris, New York, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, and Tokyo, as well as several stores-in-store in the Asian market, that existed between 1995 and 2005 have been closed. The last one to close was the Paris location in 2005.

New stores (after 2007)

In March 2007, Link Theory opened the first post-Prada signature Helmut Lang store in Tokyo's fashionable Aoyama

Aoyama, Tokyo

is a neighborhood of Tokyo, located in the northeastern Minato Ward. During the Edo Period, Aoyama was home to various temples, shrines, and samurai residences. The name Aoyama derived from a samurai named Aoyama Tadanari who served the Tokugawa Shogunate and held his mansion in this area...

district. In Japan, the company has since then installed several Helmut Lang stores-in-store at local department stores. In August 2007, a new freestanding Helmut Lang store was opened on Melrose Avenue

Melrose Avenue

Melrose Avenue is an internationally renowned shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts from Santa Monica Boulevard at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and ends at Lucille Avenue in Silver Lake...

in Los Angeles. It is, after the Tokyo store, the second signature Helmut Lang store since the closing of the last original store in Paris. The store is adjacent to an existing theory store at 8424 Melrose Avenue. Another Helmut Lang store opened on September 28, 2007 on Maiden Lane in San Francisco, in the building previously occupied by Jil Sander

Jil Sander

Heidemarie Jiline 'Jil' Sander is a minimalist German fashion designer and the founder of the Jil Sander fashion house....

. However, in April 2008, this store was converted into a theory store. In New York City, a temporary 'pop-up shop' opened in mid-December 2007, while the company is apparently looking for a larger location in the Meatpacking District. May 8, 2008 saw the opening of a Helmut Lang outlet store

Outlet store

An outlet store or factory outlet is a brick and mortar or online retail store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allowing customers to watch the production process like in the...

at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets

Woodbury Common Premium Outlets

Woodbury Common Premium Outlets is an outlet center located in Central Valley, New York. The center is part of the Chelsea Premium Outlets group and takes its name from the town in which it is located...

in New York, however this store has since closed.

Original fragrances

Three different perfumes were associated with the Helmut Lang label, produced in cooperation with Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....

, all of which were discontinued with the closing of the original brand in 2005.

Helmut Lang (women's) - 2000
Helmut Lang Pour Homme - 2001
Helmut Lang Cuiron (men's) - 2002

External links

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.