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AN INTRODUCTION TO RAF SIMONS

Raf Simons’ launched his own menswear label in 1995, a self-trained menswear designer whose clothes are inspired by rebellion, subcultures and other forms of subversion and countercultures. Quoted from the Raf Simons website “he emerges in fashion halfway through the nineties, presenting a radically different image of masculinity.

Fusing the energy and singularity of teenage subcultures with the sharpness and precision of classical sartorial craft, the look presented by Raf Simons is both inspired by and designed for confident outsiders.”  Notably Raf Simons’ work focuses on the youth, resonating with those involved with snapshots into the sub-cultures and occasionally the transgression of their associated archetypes. Raf Simons’ AW04 collection “Waves”, for example, aimed to showcase various subcultures in connection to concepts of the sea. 

The collections themselves, (which can be viewed on the TRUSS APP) all have their own unique theme or ethos but what ties them together are the whole package. The music, art, performances imagery all come together to form something larger than their parts. Raf aims to build a world, a universe that one can momentarily glimpse to feel a certain mood with his signature of independence and individuality.

His first runway show, in Autumn/Winter of 1997, showcased this rationale. The show took place in Paris with a look of American college students and English catholic schoolboys with background music of New Wave and Punk. Simons took the stuffing out of the tailoring, dressing the young men instead in narrow black suits more akin to the look of a schoolboy. A more rebellious twist on the smart attire you would expect to find in a Wall Street office.

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