Designers re-issuing and selling off their archive pieces is a 'thing' now in fashion. And it's quite amazing really.In Selfridges in March this year, Chloe re-issued 16 iconic pieces (including that violin dress) for its 60th anniversary, and remember the Balenciaga.Edition collection? The largest archival interpretation collection from any designer (ok, so not REAL archive pieces, but everything down to the buttons and stitches were emulated from its ancient counterpart).I'm not sure if it's just a very chic money-maker for a label, or a way to just empty their cluttered samples cupboard. Either way, it's great for people of a new generation to see what the designers were creating back then.And now it's Jean Paul Gaultier's turn. For a designer that often delves into his archive to create his new collections, it's rather quite amazing to see his Vault edit in all its glory.
Shop more of the men's Vault edit here...
House of Liza, the East London AMAZING vintage emporium - everything from Versace to Walter Van Beirendonck - has teamed up with Farfetch.com to offer up a curated edit of 50 never-worn-before JPG pieces from catwalks past. Think the 'L'homme-Object' collection in 1984 and 'Le Grande Voyage' in 1994.I asked Goncalo Velos, owner of House of Liza, what it means to them to be able to delve into the JPG archive:
It has been quite incredible to delve into Jean Paul Gaultier's archive and get hold of some of his most iconic designs, some of which have been untouched for 20 years. Jean Paul Gaultier burst onto the French fashion scene in the mid-1970s and soon established himself as the most provocative designer of his generation, putting men in skirts and turning underwear into outwear. The Vault 1 collection shows how he recontextualised knitwear. Gaultier’s new ways of manipulating textiles forced people to look at knitwear in a radically new way.
And also why the selling off of archive pieces from great designers is so important:
The Jean Paul Gaultier Vault 1 pieces are a huge part of fashion history and it's really important for people to see the designer's early work to appreciate what he's doing now, 30 years down the line. Gaultier does not take himself too seriously, which is perhaps why he never loses touch with what is happening in the real world. Witty, devilish, provocative, his subversive vision of femininity and his narcissistic view of men is a challenge to all the unwritten rules that a Parisian couturier would usually employ.
