The main action before the Helmut Lang show was the front row, where Game of Thrones OG Maisie Williams sat alongside Jeremy O. Harris, Ian Isaiah, and i-D contributor Paloma Elsesser, all looking very over excited to be seeing one another. On the runway, however, the story was much more calm and collected, with Mark Thomas and Thomas Cawson staging a faithfully rendered ode to Helmut Lang’s work.
What this meant was a romp through the signatures that the brand’s clients, both old and new, love. Sharp, minimal tailoring was at the fore, much of it in a monochrome palette, worn with great big leather boots that reflected Helmut’s love of a fetish reference. Other Helmut favorites included an abundance of sheer, metallic leather, and the boxy shapes. Oh and the parkas, obviously, some of which are still worn on the front row from the first time they were shown. Some of the slinky tank tops recalled the cut outs that the designer adored, and event he fast pace of the models seemed an homage to when Kirsten Owen and Stella Tennant would race around his runway.
Helmut inspires a kind of mania in those that were lucky enough to see his work first hand. If the young crowd at their show was anything to go by, Thomas and Cawson have started to amass a following of their own. i-D cover star, the model Nathan Westling, closed the show in an oversize suit jacket and pants that would seamlessly integrate with any of their front row fans’ wardrobes (not to mention the brilliant Mykita shades). The neon looks in particular indicated that, once they’ve thoroughly excavated the archive, they have ideas of their own too. We look forward to seeing their next move.
