Helmut Lang

The Helmut Lang fashion brand was created by Austrian fashion designer Helmut Lang (born 10 March 1956) in 1986. The Helmut Lang brand still exists today, but has been carried on without Lang’s involvement since 2005Helmut Lang, a fashion autodidact, set up a made-to-measure fashion studio in Vienna in 1977 and opened a boutique 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 Austrian 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 silhouettes in high quality and often high-tech fabrics.[citation needed] His work has been compared to Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto for his sometimes austere, intellectual designs.

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 in black or white, its denim collection, and the use of high-tech fabrics. Helmut Lang fashions were sold in upscale 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 of the Helmut Lang brand by Prada in 2004, and Mr. Lang’s departure 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 department stores and signature Helmut Lang boutiques worldwide.New York City
Lang moved to New York in 1997 and subsequently set up his company’s headquarters in 80 Greene St. in SoHo 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 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.[1] The following season he announced to show his collections not only before New York Fashion Week, but also before the Milan and Paris runway shows. 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.[2] From 2000 on, unconventional print ads for the brand were placed with National Geographic magazine.[3]

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 séances de travail (“working sessions”) by Mr. Lang.