There are few working designers so vocally obsessed with youth culture as Raf Simons. But the youth Simons seeks to explore isn’t the youth of today—the young people advocating for climate justice, leading protests against police brutality and racism, and volunteering as poll workers. It’s his own youth that interests him. The metadata of his website, where he streamed his spring 2021 film “Teenage Dreams,” reads: “I don’t want to show clothes, I want to show my attitude, my past, present, and future. I use memories and future visions and try to place them in today’s world.”

Designers are plumbing their own histories more than ever in this digital and isolated spring 2021 season, but this has always been Simons’s way. The press release for his teen dream collection lists the films that inspired him, many of which he has cited before, from Alien and Alice in Wonderland to Picnic at Hanging Rock and A Nightmare on Elm Street. The release also notes three very apt Joy Division songs: “Isolation,” “Incubation,” and “Disorder.”

That’s the totality of Simons’s statements on this collection, which features his first official foray into womenswear at this brand and his first fashion film since his start in the late ’90s, when similarly rakish models loafed about in Belgian photo studios and homes. Back then they smoked ciggies and drank champers and smushed into a single couch. In today’s film they populate in a nuclear floral set by Mark Colle: possessed, crawling on the floor, snatched into a web.

As Simons’s youth in revolt slunk around in the film, punctuated by pulsing beats by Senjan Jansen, his signatures came into focus. The silhouette was as slim as ever and there was ample sloganeering and graphics, things his customers old and young adore, as well as photo prints of family members of Raf’s studio team. Raf stans will appreciate the continuity of his long lean silk skirts, colorful turtlenecks with R monograms at the throat, sleeveless tunics, and body-wrapping perspex tops. A big mustard knit, the sort of ginormous sweater Simons himself often wears, will be another fan favorite. It’s worn by both a male and female model, proving the point that while this is technically a womenswear debut, female shoppers have long found comfort in Simons’s work.

The silhouette was as slim as ever and there was ample sloganeering and graphics, things his customers old and young adore, as well as photo prints of family members of Raf’s studio team.

RAF SIMONS is a fashion brand based in Belgium and France. Mainly develops menswear. The design features a fusion of tailored and youth culture, which is a fusion of traditional and classic tailored style and rebellious youth culture. Founder Raf Simons was born in 1968 in Genk, a suburb of Neilpert, Belgium. The university enrolls in an industrial design school to study photography and video. There is no formal education in fashion. He became interested in fashion after working at Walter Van Beirendonck's Antwerp office for training when he was a student.

After graduating from university, he worked at a furniture gallery for two years and worked as an interior designer, but gradually became interested in fashion and learned how to make clothes by himself. Raf Simons himself says he decided to work in fashion after seeing Maison Margiela's collection.

With his own clothes, he moved to Antwerp and met Linda Roppa, director of fashion at the Royal Academy in Antwerp. So I decided to change my direction to fashion. Raf Simons himself wanted to enroll in the Antwerp Academy of Arts, but Linda Roppa said, "You don't have to study at our school," and he continues to teach himself how to make clothes.

With the support of Linda Roppa, he presented his own brand "Raf Simons" collection in a presentation format at an exhibition in Milan in the fall and winter of 1995. The next three seasons will be announced at an exhibition in Paris. In 1995, Raf Simons presented the brand "Raf Simons" bearing his own name.

Participated in the Paris men's ready-to-wear collection for the first time since the fall and winter of 1997-1998. In the spring/summer 1999 and fall/winter 1999-2000 seasons, he was in charge of the design of Ruffo Research developed by Italian luxury leather manufacturer Ruffo with Veronique Branquino. Simons was in charge of men's in this collection.

After that, the collection activity for one season was suspended at the end of autumn/winter 1999-2000. Since October 2000, he has been teaching fashion at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Reasons for suspending activities include "I wasn't quite comfortable with my own creation. I wanted to think a little", "Resting period", and "Rebuilding the internal structure of the company".

During the rest, he formed a cooperative system with the Belgian manufacturer "CIG" and formed a design group from the 2001-2002 autumn/winter collection and restarted. This collection is modeled after an amateur scouted in the city of Antwerp. The style of layering layers became an obsession as soon as he returned.

Won the Grand Prix at the Contemporary Designer Competition in Lucerne, Switzerland, on November 29, 2003. Since July, 2005, he is the creative director of Jil Sander's menswear and womenswear.

From the spring and summer of 2006, the diffusion line "RAF BY RAF SIMONS" is launched.

In 2008, opened the world's first flagship store in Tokyo. After that, a flagship store was opened in Osaka (these were closed later). In the same year, Eastpak announced "EASTPAK X RAF SIMONS" in collaboration. From the 2008 A/W season, he announced the collaboration line "RAF SIMONS X FRED PERRY" with Fred Perry, and developed a collection of polo shirts and cardigans.

In 2011, the development of "RAF BY RAF SIMONS" was completed, and the development of the new range "RAF SIMONS 1995", which started to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the brand's establishment, started.

Retired as creative director of Jil Sander at the end of the 2012 Fall / Winter collection. In the same year, he became the artistic director of Christian Dior.

In 2013, Adidas and Raf Simons announced a collaborative capsule collection "Adidas by Raf Simons".

In 2015, he retired as Dior's artistic director.

Appointed Chief Creative Officer of Calvin Klein on August 2, 2016.

In 2017, Raf Simons won the Designer of the Year Award in both the Womenswear and Menswear categories at the CFDA Fashion Awards. In 2018, he retired as director of Calvin Klein.

RAF SIMONS is a fashion brand based in Belgium and France. Mainly develops menswear. The design features a fusion of tailored and youth culture, which is a fusion of traditional and classic tailored style and rebellious youth culture.

The menswear icon's Fall/Winter 2020 campaign combines the stunning and the sinister. The set of images, shot by Simons' frequent collaborator, Willy Vanderperre, is an aesthetically delicious slice of psychedelic sci-fi. Lone figures remain in endless wild grass fields, as the skies of violet and fuschia extend above them. The colorwork is mind-blowing, and the designs of Simons – mostly well-cut black with the occasional, interesting (faux) fur appearance – provide an exquisite contrast. 

Those solitary young men feel like interplanetary explorers, an envoy sent to find a new home from a dying earth. The reappearance of a faux-fur hand muff printed with the expression "Solar Youth" seems to reinforce this relation and to give a sense of urgency to the tendency of Simons to cryptic sloganing. They may be looking for a new light, or an unpolluted atmosphere but their mission does not seem hopeful: they are not at home, while they are in a beautiful environment. That planet is lifeless and barren. Their emotional state is remote and abstract; they look alone. The campaign has a prophetic meaning to it. We are killing the earth with style, and nowhere is left to go. 

Less than a week ago, Simons revealed his Archive Redux, a special set consisting of 100 pieces reissued from his collections over the last 25 years. The project has shown pride in the past, an artist trusting in his own development. The initiative will put that faith into tension with an uncertain future. As an artist, the future can only be positive: this campaign's sheer artistry shows Simons at the height of his creative abilities, with no signs of slowing down. Yet it's hard to look into the future as a human being, and not be afraid. We are all well aware of this moment's precariousness on Earth, though it would be difficult to behave like this. The advertisement reflects this ambiguity perfectly, the simultaneous excitement of the present moment and the awareness of the imminent disaster. Raf Simons encourages us to always come back to our shared humanity when we move into this alien world – that's what is really beautiful.

Raf Simons Creative Director | Raf Simons

Models | Luca Lemaire, David Musefano, & Lennert De Lathauwer

In other news, Yohji Yamamoto's first digital collection has been shown last Friday within men's Paris Fashion Week.

Raf Simons looks toward an uncertain future with his most recent campaign.

Dior's Lee Young Kyoon has launched a website selling items ranging from the famous 2001 "Riot! Riot! Riot!" to 2018/19 "Replicants" Raf Simons archive collections. 

The website sells some of Raf Simons' rarest and most significant pieces available, with notable things like a "Riot! Riot! Riot!" iconic oversized shirt, or a jumper from the same period of time with David Bowie, Richy Edwards, and Joy Division concert posters on it and paper clippings featuring missing Richey Edwards of the Manic Street Preachers.

Otherwise, we see a fishtail parka named "Dazzle Ships," the "Exiles" turtleneck from the "Wave" series which is also covered in patches portraying the "Shipwreck" passage of Ortega y Gasset, rave culture and manufactured record labels, as well as a gold-plated "R" symbol necklace. 

Apart from clothes, the webshop of Lee Young Kyoon shows homeware items from Raf Simons' 2018-19 collection, such as the Joy Division lanterns. Check the Raf Simons historical pieces and enquire C'est Chaud for the price!

In the same way, recent designs of Yohji Yamamoto have a reference to his Spring/Summer 1996 collection.

The Replica line by Yohji Yamamoto continues to highlight some of his most popular designs, bringing back main pieces from the Spring/Summer 1996 menswear collection by the renowned designer. Dominated by colorful flower prints and embroidery, the collection displays the designer's passion for the peony, phoenix flower, and sunflower. The runway show was also for Yohji, who had hired a slew of teenage boys to flaunt the collection, a rare spectacle. It was as if these young guys were wearing revamped versions of their father's wardrobes, floating in bulky, flower-clad garments that played thematically into Yohji 's passion for androgynous-leaning models.

Here you can find four styles of coats, four pairs of trousers and three shirts of the Yohji Yamamoto Replica SS96 capsule, all of which have been faithfully replicated to suit identical specifications to their runway counterparts of the late 1990s. The jackets remain distinguished by lapels, pockets, and rigid collars, each with a slightly altered profile and length to match contemporary requirements. Materials were replicated similarly, using rayon fabrics and textiles made from cotton for the capsule brunt.

ARCHIVAL RAF SIMONS WEBSTORE: C'EST CHAUD

Taking style cues from the rebellious era of ’80s punk rock, the carryall options seen here include an oversized backpack, waist bag, tote, and a standout version of Eastpak’s signature Padded backpack.

In addition to a handful of pockets and storage compartments, each bag includes a cool design motif that comes in either silk or cotton construction. Even though a good outfit and some equally cool shoes are the core fundamentals of getting dressed, having a good bag to lug around all your daily essentials is just as important. Why not one of these designed by one of the leading fashion designers in the game, right?

Taking style cues from the rebellious era of ’80s punk rock, the carryall options seen here include an oversized backpack.

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