Vetements show took place in a McDonald on the Champs-Élysées. This is not a big event after all, since everybody is now looking for socials’ coverage and sensationalism is usually the way to reach it. But this is not the point in Gvasalia’s collection. The set was only the starting point for a collection whose goal was to point out the big problems of capitalism and system of exploitation on which it is based. The working class heroes walked the stage: they’re “on sales” or they have the word “capitalism” written on the name label on their jackets. They eat at McDonalds, because they are perfectly fitted inside the consumerism machine: fashion seems to be all about a subtle but strong discomfort against society.
Between the desire of come back to a natural way of life far from internet, the use of recycled materials and wasted fabrics, and now the accuse towards minimum wages and exploitation, fashion is really trying to touch all of main social issues of today. Gvasalia goes even further and creates in the spectator a deep sense of panic, with the barking dogs at the end of the show but also for the looks themselves. Disturbing, because so real and so dystopic in the same time. With waiters’ slouchy uniform and security guards’ extra large jackets, gym clothes and t-shirts with flip flop, we also find dressed with flowers pattern which seemed to be made out of old wax table coat of country houses. Maybe, the brutal modern aesthetic of Vetements is the shock we all need.
Words by Giulia Greco