Helmut Land has been sold to Link Theory which "has ambitious plans to revive the label on the contemporary level" WWD reports today. A designer for the label has not been named.
Helmut Lang at contemporary price points? That is exactly what we don't need.
Apparently, Link Theory, which owns the Theory business in Japan, bought the trademark from Prada and plans to use the " incredible heritage" of the brand to reshape the collection for the contemporary market. Rumor has it that Alexandre Plokhov, of Cloak, could be the new designer.
Sorry, but this sounds like such a bait and switch to me. Like Helmut Lang Lite
A big part of Helmut's genius was mixing incredible luxurious fabrics like cashmere with utilitarian fabrics like denim, moleskin, or corduroy. This simple cannot be done ,in a real way( if for no other reason than price points), in contemporary departments of department stores or in stores that specialize in contemporary collections.
Recent revivals like Rochas, Lanvin, or even Jil Sander ,at least, kept the label at a designer price point. If the Theory guys see an opportunity at contemporary with a designer like Plokhov then just let him do his thing, don't try to pass it off as Helmut-inspired.
If Helmut ,himself, comes back, can I ever look at the new collection without wondering what could have been included if he were allowed to work at a higher price point?
The only Helmut-ish items that can be reshaped at that price point are very basic, isn't APC already doing it anyway?
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