When the future looks quite as hazy as it does now, it’s only natural to look back on the golden days of yore. Well, that’s just what Raf Simons is doing for its 25th anniversary with the launch of Raf Simons Archive Redux.
Described as a “reexamination and recontextualisation of the past, for and within the present”, the initiative will see the Antwerp-based label reissue 100 of its best-hit pieces from its hallowed archives. The precise selection of pieces is set to be revealed later this month, with deliveries to arrive in stores by December.
Still, despite this ‘precise selection’, you can expect an offering that gives a well-rounded insight into “different eras, obsessions, and creative approaches” that have shaped Raf Simons quarter-century stint at the forefront of the fashion industry, with each piece a living artefact of fashion history in its own right.
The question that the announcement of Raf Simons Archive Redux does raise, though, is: What’s happening with the SS21 collection? Well, you can all exhale — though Raf won’t be showing as part of this week’s first-ever virtual Paris Fashion Week, a new collection will be revealed in autumn. How it will be shown, however, remains to be seen.
