13.10.22 – Raf Simons drew the curtain on his eponymous brand where the designer first found his rhythm: in the eye of a rave. 

Inside London’s cavernous Printworks venue (Raf’s debut show in the city), guests were taken on a beat-thumping, laser-guided trip to 4/4 euphoria as models stormed down the runway like they were rushing straight out of work to the club – formalwear sliced, hacked and deconstructed as they made DIY alterations on the run. “KILL THEM ALL AND DANCE” read one vest inspired by the visceral texts of artist Philippe Vandenberg. The message was clear: let loose and get down.

Hailing from Flanders, Belgium – (birthplace of the new beat genre, a descendent of British new wave) a young Raf found light in the darkness of the region’s underground clubs, discovering movement, escapism and freedom. 

He studied furniture and industrial design in Genk and interned for Walter Van Beirendonck. Then came the epiphany: during a visit to Paris, Simons attended Martin Margiela’s seminal SS90 all-white show, held in a derelict playground on the outskirts of Paris. In this arena of street-realism, front-row politics were democratised (Simons often has his audiences standing), and an unprecedented sense of joy backdropped the collection. A show for purists, not critics, this experience changed things for Raf, who founded his eponymous brand soon after, and later cited the Margiela moment as the reason he became a fashion designer.

Simons took this energy and ran with it, fusing luxury fashion with the fervent drive of youth culture; designing in ode to the raw innocence of ‘coming-of-age’, embracing its pains, pleasure and complexities. Uncompromising and ever-evolving, the effect Raf has had on the way men dress cannot be overstated. Proving that rawness and hardcore could be beautiful, his subversive signatures are immediate: SS98’s Black Palms, FW98’s Kraftwerk homage, FW02’s RIOT! RIOT! RIOT!, and FW03’s Closer, featuring parkas printed with Peter Saville’s New Order artwork in ode to Manchester’s Factory Records and its disciples. The designer’s SS02 show claims one of the best collection titles ever conceived, one that defines Raf’s underpinning mantra: Woe Unto Those Who Spit on the Fear Generation… The Wind Will Blow It Back.

And what a Raf thing to do: one day just announce your brand is closed. No fuss, no sentimentality. Currently focusing his time as co-creative
director at Prada, the designer remains steadfast in his vision, channelling
his impulses through the Italian house’s cerebral codes. The enduring call and response of youth guides him: always in motion, always listening out for that beat.