Shortly after announcing its new label VTMNTS, Vetements is back with what might just be its best collection yet.
Continuing its love for extreme silhouettes, hoodies, and sweatpants, the collection captures perfectly tailored coats alongside oversize trousers, and huge denim that brings back memories of the JNCO days. Everything is excellently juxtaposed – pairing a skintight velour bodysuit with track pants all of a sudden makes sense.
Of course, Vetements is also bringing its signature graphic tees. This season, one print reads "I did nothing, I just got lucky," referencing a new era of cryptocurrency and our digital landscape.
For Fall/Winter 22-23, the focus is on "pushing to redefine the couture and savoir-faire of the previous generations for the new era." Basically, Vetements wants to make clothes for the Bitcoin millionaires, the OnlyFans creators, and those who have become social media millionaires. The life-changing wealth acquired by young creators is fascinating to Vetements, as they explain that "someone who invested 1,000 dollars in bitcoin in 2010 would now be worth short of 80 million dollars."
The collection is proof that Vetements can be really, really, good. The label has always been taking risks and pushing boundaries (remember when the first hoodies launched and everyone went crazy over the price tags?), and this season is no different.
Leaning into quality and craftsmanship, Vetements has used a new technological breakthrough (for the first time in history!), and have created pieces entirely from jersey and molton. We know Vetements love tees and hoodies, but this is truly taking it to the next level. "Make it your travel suit, throw it in your suitcase and start traveling again." And comfort is indeed key, because our favorite Y2K velour tracksuits have been made into evening gowns, and velvet bathrobes have turned into evening coats,
If you look closely at the pieces, plenty of them come with technological transformations. Trousers and jeans can be made into different lengths, padding can be detached from outerwear pieces, coats can be turned into jackets, and so on. Multi-purpose use is key to Vetements, in order to "slow down the consumption and grant wearers the ability to wear their loved pieces in different climates, weather conditions, and environments."
But the conversation goes much further than just clothes. To Vetements, the true meaning of luxury is privacy in an increasingly digital world. Yes, getting rich off of social media is great – sometimes even aspirational – but it comes with a price. "Full bodysuits with masks are like a real-life VPN - granting full privacy in a world where privacy is the ultimate luxury. While everyone is being tracked online by tech giants, the only place you can escape and maintain your privacy is offline."
Lastly, Vetements has also created the one billion dollar bill, which can be spotted printed across a handful of garments. "Recent studies show that when kids from generation Alpha, born after 2010, are asked who they want to become when they grow up, the top answer is rich, followed by famous. It has become an obsession of the youth to get rich fast, overnight."
The Fall/Winter 22-23 collection shows that when Vetements tells a story, so do the clothes. We frequently miss the innovative designs and the excellent tailoring from the label because of the focus on tees and sweaters, but this time around the craftsmanship bleeds through the whole collection and is the main focus.
I may not be a Bitcoin millionaire, nor an OnlyFans creator, but I'll definitely be wearing Vetements.
SOURCE : HIGhs
