13 December 2024

Former fashion designer turned artist Helmut Lang presents his exhibition 'What Remains Behind' at the MAK Center in Los Angeles

Since yesterday, we know that Virginie Viard will be followed at Chanel by Matthieu Blazy, whose job at Bottega Veneta will be continued by Louise Trotter, John Galliano has left Maison Margiela, and Austria's once highly acclaimed fashion designer Helmut Lang, who left the fashion stage in 2005 to focus his creativity on art, will exhibit his artwork with the support of Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello from February 19 to May 4, 2025 in Los Angeles under the title 'What Remains Behind', as the MAK Center posted yesterday on Instagram. Well, in the opinion of many, the void left by Helmut Lang as a fashion designer in Austria has not yet been filled. But that is not the theme of the exhibition.

Helmut Lang remains one of Austria's most significant contributions to the international fashion and art worlds. His work has had a profound impact not only on the global fashion industry, but also on contemporary art, to which he transitioned after stepping away from fashion design. Known for his minimalist approach and innovative techniques, Lang's work has blurred the lines between fashion and art, making him an essential figure in both fields.

Lang's career as a fashion designer, which began to become successful under the name 'Helmut Lang' in the early 1980s, took off with his distinctive, minimalist collections that defied traditional fashion norms. As a professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Lang solidified his importance in Austrian fashion and influenced a generation of designers with his critical and conceptual approach to design. His legacy as a professor is intertwined with his focus on the idea of fashion as an art form and the exploration of form, function, and materiality.

However, Lang's relationship with fashion was not to last indefinitely. In 2005, he made the decision to step away from his iconic fashion label to focus on his artistic career. Since then, Lang has dedicated himself to creating sculptures and conceptual art pieces, often using materials with deep histories and personal significance. His art often reflects a meditative exploration of the human form and its relationship to space and time, themes he has carried over from his work in fashion. His fashion designs were known for their minimalism, deconstruction, and use of unconventional materials such as rubber and feathers. These elements carry over into his art, where he uses shredded and crushed objects, pigmented resin, and found materials to create sculptures and installations. In yesterday's Instagram post about the upcoming exhibition 'What Remains Behind,' Helmut Lang is quoted with a statement about his preference for materials "with a past, elements with an irreplaceable presence, and with scars and memories of a former purpose."

Beginning in February 2025, Lang will present his exhibition 'What Remains Behind' in Los Angeles. The exhibition will take place at the MAK Center in the Schindler House, an iconic building designed by fellow Austrian Rudolph Schindler. The exhibition will feature a series of sculptures that explore the interaction between the human body, memory and architecture.

Lang's transition from fashion to fine art marks a pivotal moment in his career. Since moving from Vienna to New York in 1997 and leaving the fashion world in 2005, Lang has exhibited in major galleries and institutions in New York, Vienna, or at the Saint Laurent Rive Droite stores in Paris and Los Angeles, where he presented a series of sculptures made from materials developed from shredded unfinished garments, accessories, and prototypes to "bring new life to Vaccarello's work," as introduced on ysl.com.

To conclude this article with a short ride on the fashion carousel, as mentioned at the beginning, the exhibition will be presented with the support of Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, who, like the Franco-Belgian Matthieu Blazy (now creative director at Chanel), studied at the La Cambre school of visual arts in Brussels.

And the fashion carousel keeps turning with you, even after you jump off...