Rain, densely-packed narrow streets, flickering fluorescent neon lights, cool coats and replicants: if you wanted to reduce Ridley Scott's 1982 classic sci-fi movie Blade Runner to less than 10 iconic elements you could do so with such a short list.
Raf Simons distilled these elements in his menswear runway show that took place earlier on this week in New York.
The Belgian designer, who has recently relocated in the Big Apple to work at Calvin Klein, showed his S/S 18 menswear collection in a street in Manhattan's Chinatown under the Manhattan Bridge.
The smell of fish was real, courtesy of the nearby fish market, while some extra lights were added thanks to the glow of Chinese lanterns.
Voluminously boxy rubber raincoats, sleeveless trenches with elasticized sleeves, deconstructed overcoats and jackets (checked or in plain colours) were matched with wide and loose trousers (kimono pants? wrap-around skirts?) and tabard-like shirts.
Accessories included wellies that called to mind the gumboots used by workers in fish markets such as Tokyo's Tsukiji and umbrellas with a glow-in-the-dark neon shaft.
Workers weren't the only inspiration since some garments like tunics and long skirts seemed to point more at monks.
Women donned wide brimmed hats in floral prints with added scarves and maxi skirts matched with sheer knit tops.
Though the collection had a cinematic twist (the umbrellas were lifted from Blade Runner), the separates pointed at something else: there were indeed oversized sweats and slashed tops and T-shirts (for that DIY mood) with prints that did not hint at replicants.
Simons asked to have access the the archives of British graphic artist Peter Saville for this collection (he redesigned with Simons the Calvin Klein logo), that's why these garments and the Chinese lanters around the runway were decorated with Saville's graphics for Joy Division and New Order's albums (the lanterns and umbrellas also spelt the word "Replicant") or with details and photo negatives from Saville's archive.
This was nothing new as Simons often hinted at music references in his past design (think about his A/W 2003 collection, "Closer") and Saville has been one of his constant references.
Yet, you seriously wonder what is the point of having another shirt with the postmodernist "Unknown Pleasures" album cover designed by Saville and based on a 1967 image of radio waves from pulsar CP 1919 taken from The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy or with the cover for New Order's "Power Corruption and Lies" (1983), based on a painting by Henri Fantin-Latour.
Now, while most genuine Joy Division and New Order fans already own these shirts (and some of them may have even made their own ones, scanning the covers of battered albums and having them printed on a garment…), desperate fashionistas can jump on the bandwagon for a fraction of the price by buying the same items on Aliexpress (yes, they would be bootlegged T-shirts and we are not encouraging doing so).
Ah, yes, critics will say this is all so postmodern and unbearably cool, after all this collection gives you the chance to buy expensive sliced-open sweatshirts rather than just simple and cheap T-shirts with a print.
At the same time it is hard not to be annoyed by the laziness of this collection (or maybe Simons is just tired…) that looked a bit repetitive and by the mere thought that, in a few months' time, we will be getting all these fashionista Joy Division/New Order fans who will be as fake as the water added by the production assistants on the pavement of the street where the show was taking place (to make sure the atmosphere was more genuine).
The most risible part of this collection, though, wasn't the fact that Saville has already been an inspiration for Simons (and was also featured in a collection by Yohji Yamamoto). The most puzzling thing in the collection was indeed the very "conceptual" neon shaft umbrella (will they be produced or were they just props for the show?).
Yes, you can get the basic "Made in China" versions of the umbrellas from Aliexpress, or you can get them from other sites, including Amazon.
One version of the umbrella is also dubbed on Amazon "Blade Runner Style LED Umbrella" and makes you wonder if Simons actually rewatched the film or if he got the idea for this modern fashion dystopia with an Eastern twist while shopping on Amazon.
Simons explained that the collection was about the Asian culture and the culture of the West coming together. Hmmm, who knows, maybe with this statement he meant Aliexpress meeting the luxury fashion industry.
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