McDonald's restaurants conjure up different visions, nightmares and fantasies to different people: for some the fast food chain is synonymous with unhealthy food; for others it is a place where it is possible to get an affordable meal, or maybe meet up with friends before or after a gig (and in the '80s in New York it was also a place for raves...).
For Vêtements' Demna Gvasalia, the place stands for childhood memories when the Soviet Union ended and McDonald's restaurants arrived in Georgia, quickly becoming a symbol of capitalism and of a desirable lifestyle.
Maybe inspired by those memories, Gvasalia decided to showcase the new Vêtements collection in the McDonald's on the Champs-Élysées, Paris' biggest branch.
He then proceeded to present a cast of characters taken from real life: the first one was a police officer in Vêtements' riot gear and huge bomber jacket with exaggerated shoulder pads reminiscent of Fester Addams; he was followed by a McDonald's employee with a name sticker reading "Hello I am capitalism" and a Trump MAGA-like hat with "For Rent" on it (is the "For Rent" moniker referred to the practice of hiring designer clothes or to the pratice of "hiring" people like influencers to advertise clothes?).
Then followed goths in zombie make up, corporate businessmen and motorcycling-inspired gear; the brand's distorted signature prairie dresses and tops and dresses inspired by Margiela's dummy pattern designs; young men in grunge tops, juvenile delinquents in shell suits, shell suits turned into trench-coats with massive shoulders and ravers in satiric logo T-shirts.
For this collection PlayStation turned into PayStation, the Bose speakers logo turned into the German word "böse" (meaning evil, bad or angry), the World Economic Forum logo turned into "Global Mind Fuck" and Internet Explorer became "Ecstasy" (the logo has actually been used in the past for ecstasy pills...). But the list is long and also features a fake Bacardi logo on a stonewashed denim jumpsuit, not to mention a series of bizarre meshed up cartoon characters on the pink trousers matched with the Planet Hollymood logo.
Now this was supposed to be ironic, disruptive, innovative and rebellious, as proved by the manifesto scribbled on the paper napkins scattered on the floor, reading "Police uniform, kapitalism, clothes 4 rent, global mind fuck, new old goth, böse, fashion forever," but somehow it didn't make you laugh at all and it was hard to see the innovation behind the bootlegged shirts, the sort of items you can easily find on alternative market stalls and online.
Besides, the police officers (dressed in a uniform inspired by Russian police) brought to mind French anti-government gilets jaunes protests (this McDonald's branch was targeted by the gilets jaunes protestors) and probably conjured up in the mind of Italians nightmarish visions of Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini engaged in a perennial uniform cosplay.
There was nothing to ponder about these clothes, they are there to be loved or hated (mind you, the orange prison jumpsuit may be a good investment as that could be used for an "Orange is the New Black" cosplay and, despite being bright orange, could even pass for a "Casa de Papel" costume under the proper lights and with a decent mask...), but the supposed satire behind them is getting lost as you realise the collection fuels that same capitalism it criticises and repackages as luxury that same populism it laughs about.
There was a specific item on this runway that confirmed these doubts - a T-shirt with the words "Don't Shoot" in Arabic, English and French, that has caused some debates on social media in the last few days.
This is not an original design but a derivation of the T-shirt worn by journalists in Lebanon during the 1982 Israeli invasion.
Now the point is - did Gvasalia saw the original version of this T-shirt or did he recreate the same T-shirt relaunched a while back by London-based Emirati designer Khalid Qasimi for his AW17 collection?
The doubt remains, while Vogue Arabia accused Vêtements of "instigating regional upset" and Qasimi told the fashion magazine "It's about consumerism. But it's a complete F-U to the region as well. I used that print to highlight the plight of something going on in the Middle East. For Vetements to use it in such a flippant and provocative manner; I don't think they realize what these words mean to us Arabs."
Social media users highlighted Gvasalia was using war for a fashion piece: Paris-based Palestinian-Lebanese style blogger and former political journalist Samar Seraqui de Buttafoco stated Gvasalia has the right to be interested in the history of the Middle East and raise attention to is, but this is "fake activism to sell more (...) This is more serious than #culturalappropriation, this is business activism for DUMMIES. Hope you will act like a responsible consumers Hope some fashion editors will dedicate time to think and report. Hope to more respectability in the fashion industry."
Mind you, there could be a third (and even worse) explanation to this mess: Gvasalia may have just seen the T-shirt on ebay or Aliexpress and may have copied it (you can easily find it for less than $14,00 online), after all he loves a bootlegged T-shirt that can sell at hundreds of dollars (remember the brand's DHL T-shirt?).
Where do we go from here? The next logical step would be a runway show in an Amazon warehouse among exploited workers (this is a joke, not a suggestion to Gvasalia), but if things do not change at Vêtements, Gvasalia may reveal himself for what he is - definitely not a genius, but a prankster mistakenly taken for a genius.
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