When discussing public interventions in the context of art and design, a specific fashion show comes to mind for me. The Spring/Summer 2020 collection from Vetements garnered media criticisms and praise for it’s chosen location: An operational McDonald’s in Paris. To understand what led up to this show and the meaning behind it we must first understand Vetements and most importantly it’s creator, Demna Gvasilia.
Demna is a polarizing figure in the world of fashion. His talented is undeniable as he has worked in some of the biggest fashion houses in Europe, from Margiella, Louis Vuitton, and Balenciaga. It was this career trajectory that inspired the concept of Vetements. During this time, the European fashion houses of the 20th century were starting to decline in terms of creativity and direction. As a fashion company begins to expand, the cost of making clothes increases, as there is an increased demand, your quality is more scrutinized, and suppliers know they can get away with charging more for essential materials. Many large European fashion houses during this time (late 1990’s and 2000’s) started looking for other avenues to increase profit margins. This is around the time when decorated brands started trotting out accessory lines, which was rare at the time but made sense from a financial standpoint. Accessories such as perfume, shoes, bags, and hats are relatively inexpensive, since the lack of quality could be compensated by selling the brand’s image or logo.
This shift in priority from the clothes to the brand from prominent fashion houses is what pushed Demna to create a brand that was all about the garment. Literally, the French term for clothing is vetements. This clothing brand would focus on every day clothing that was ready to wear from the day it is debut. This was also different from most fashion show collections. Back in the day, the “ready to wear” collection was in it’s infancy, and many fashion houses didn’t make the clothing on the runways until a year or two after it is debut. With Demna at Vetements, this all changed, he used his internet presence to create organic hype for his clothing and would drop it the day it debut on the runway.
So what exactly does Demna design? Demna is known for his simplistic and down to earth take on high fashion. Instead of making runway pieces that are essentially unwearable for everyday use, he creates garments that could technically be worn every day (although you would probably stand out like a sore thumb). Furthermore, he always layers his clothing in levels of irony. From his harsh critiques of capitalism, to him charging $1,000 for clothing he claims to be for “every day people.” There is reason to dislike Demna, he is openly critical of consumerism and capitalism, and yet he also charges obscene amounts for his “anti-capitalist clothing.”
So what does this have to do with McDonald’s? Well, in 2019 Demna made it clear that he was ready to move on from Vetements. According to him, he had already said everything he needed to say through Vetements. His latest collection for Spring/Summer 2020 would be his last. For his final collection he would debut it in a McDonald’s in the streets of Paris. In the fashion world this is a pretty big deal, most fashion show guests are critics, and fashion elites, and they are used to the glitz and glamour of the pristine show rooms in Milan and Paris, very few were even aware that there was a McDonalds near the Champs-Élysées. Despite all this, the guests arrived at the McDonald’s excited to see Demna’s last collection. Keep in mind that Vetements was Demna’s own creation, the fact that he was leaving them after being integral to their inception was a big deal in the fashion world. So with the media, regular customers, and the McDonald’s staff present as the only guests, Demna was ready to debut his final collection for Vetements.
In short this collection is kind of a mess for me. Objectively a lot of these outfits kinda suck. But as with everything Demna does, it’s deeper than the surface. The collection started with interpretations of outfits for people that would probably work at a McDonald’s. With the security guard standing in for a Brinks security guy, and the store manager dressed as if he is clocking in for his shift. This was done as a sort of ironic critique of capitalism, as well as complimenting with the chosen location. If you want to have a fashion show critiquing capitalism where else to debut it than a McDonalds. Furthermore, with these two outfits, Vetements is showing that it can sell what blue collar, every day people wear as “high fashion” and their customers will eat it up. The outfits progressed to various other “uniforms” for everyday people that would normally walk through a McDonalds. A baked stoner looking for a meal, a biker girl, a broke surfer dude. Further cementing the idea that high fashion is a matter of perspective, and that big fashion houses should stop taking themselves so seriously. This is especially true because unlike other big European fashion houses, Vetements is aware of their price gouging. Demna has never presented to be nothing more than someone who makes clothes to push the envelope. Another example of this message was in the models. Some of the models ordered while modeling and walked out of the McDonalds with fries. If anything similar happened at Gucci, or Dior fashion show, then everyone would’ve lost their minds. Vetements might be nothing more than a manifestation of everything the fashion industry was lacking at the time, and in the end Demna’s vision won out. Big European fashion houses have started to take their ready to wear collections more seriously, and the cheap Gucci or Louis Vuitton perfumes have ceased to exist.
In conclusion, Demna exited Vetements the same way that he came in, with controversy and headlines. However, irony or not he was able to deliver a compelling collection at a unique location. He is self aware in that he knows how he benefits from the consumerism that he hates, however unlike most designers, he isn’t too arrogant as to deny his position in the system he antagonizes. While Demna is done with Vetements, he isn’t done with fashion as he is the creative director in Balenciaga and as always he is ready to push the boundaries of irony and self awareness in fashion. In his latest collection he has decided to directly copy from a previous Vetements garment. Proving once more that not even Demna takes Demna seriously.
