Vetements X DHL Express – นอกเหนือจากเสื้อยืด

How to stay in the public eye

Shock tactics, and the subversion of a mainstream brand identity do not always work. And even when they do, the hype Gvasalia has enjoyed doesn’t always last. On the subject of achieving long-term success after such explosive beginnings, we spoke with Lisa Armstrong, Fashion Director at The Telegraph and a Vogue Contributing Editor, who explained, “I think the Gvasalia brothers and their team are very talented and smart.” 

Admittedly, it was a risk. What was to stop this interplay of high and low culture from chafing? Ben Seidler, an accessories designer at Ralph Lauren and fashion illustrator who has been featured in Vogue, WWD and the New York Times, spoke with us about this exchange of culture: “Vetements linked street wear with high fashion, creating something new, whilst appealing to the fanatical followers of both businesses. The DHL logo, with its representation of a function rather than a luxury, stood for a rejection of frivolity and people found a certain authenticity with that, as well as a kind of humor that resonates with the way people express themselves on social media.”

The Gvasalia brothers bottled a spirit and Vetements clothing was met with hysteria. A search, for instance, of the Vetements hashtag on Instagram yields more than 143, 973 results. Likewise, plug DHL into any social platform to reveal a parade of glossy men, women and celebrities, the likes of Louis Tomlinson, dressed in the signature canary-colored tops.

And the fashion world solidified the label’s cult status when an enterprising 22-year-old New Yorker created Vetememes, launching a starchy navy raincoat with the word Vetememes, retailing at $59 – digging the bedrock of subversion one layer deeper. 

Now, launching its 2018 collection, Vetements has not only kept in the same vein of pop culture symbols, but they’ve added eight more DHL-themed items, including a baseball hat, jacket and socks, all proudly sporting the instantly recognizable DHL logo. The new looks were released as part of the fashion brand’s next chapter, alongside its relocation from the famous streets of Paris to the less culturally popular Zurich. Of the move, Gvasalia told the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, “Paris kills creativity. Its environment with the ‘bling bling’ is destructive. I’m done with the whole showing-off in fashion and the superficial glamour.” And in the same pages, Gvasalia referred to Zurich as a 'clean slate'.

Once settled, Gvasalia hit the streets to photograph his latest campaign comprising of Swiss locals – of all ages, backgrounds and looks. The campaign images themselves were delivered with wit. Subjects stood outside ordinary locations – a bank, a grocery store, a bridge – posed with elbows out and lips pursed, as if fronting Vogue. The resounding message: to hell with the conventions of fashion magazines and marketing.