Identity area
Reference code
2019.47.2
Title
Helmut Lang Green Parka with Screen Printed Stripe
Date(s)
- 1997 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
1
Context area
Name of creator
(1986–present)
Administrative history
Self-taught Austrian designer Helmut Lang (b. 1956) showed his first womenswear collection in Paris in 1986, followed by his debut menswear line in 1987. From 1988 both men’s and women’s collections were shown together on the runway. Lang is widely credited as being the pioneer of the rise of designer denim with the launch of Helmut Lang Jeans for Spring Summer 1997, which were produced under licence by GTR Group SpA and distributed by Onward Kashiyama USA Inc. In 1997 the company moved its headquarters from Austria to New York and started showing at New York Fashion Week. In April 1998 Lang became the first designer to debut their collection online rather than a traditional runway show. The collection consisted of a fifteen-minute video and photographs of eighty-one looks which could be viewed online at helmutlangny.com. Selected fashion editors were also sent a CD-ROM.
In 1999, with sales of around €100 million, Prada acquired 51 per cent of the Helmut Lang company. By 2003 sales had dropped to €27.7 million; however, Prada bought the remaining 49 per cent of the company in 2004 and Lang exited his eponymous label in 2005. Prada sold the company to Japanese company Link Theory Holdings in 2006, who appointed Nicole and Michael Colovos as the new creative directors for the brand. After eight years, the duo left Helmut Lang in February 2014. Rather than appoint a new creative director, the company appointed Isabella Burley, then editor of Dazed & Confused magazine, to the new post of editor-in-residence in 2017, and Shayne Oliver of Hood by Air as its first guest designer. In January 2018 Burley was replaced by Alix Browne, founding editor of V Magazine, together with Mark Howard Thomas as creative director of menswear. Browne left in January 2019 and Thomas in October 2019. Thomas Cawson was then creative director until April 2020. In May 2023, Peter Do was appointed creative director of the brand. In 2010 Helmut Lang personally donated his archive to twelve museums worldwide, including MAK in Vienna, Austria and the Fashion Museum, Bath, England.
Sources: Booknoise.net; New Vision; The New York Times; WWD.
In 1999, with sales of around €100 million, Prada acquired 51 per cent of the Helmut Lang company. By 2003 sales had dropped to €27.7 million; however, Prada bought the remaining 49 per cent of the company in 2004 and Lang exited his eponymous label in 2005. Prada sold the company to Japanese company Link Theory Holdings in 2006, who appointed Nicole and Michael Colovos as the new creative directors for the brand. After eight years, the duo left Helmut Lang in February 2014. Rather than appoint a new creative director, the company appointed Isabella Burley, then editor of Dazed & Confused magazine, to the new post of editor-in-residence in 2017, and Shayne Oliver of Hood by Air as its first guest designer. In January 2018 Burley was replaced by Alix Browne, founding editor of V Magazine, together with Mark Howard Thomas as creative director of menswear. Browne left in January 2019 and Thomas in October 2019. Thomas Cawson was then creative director until April 2020. In May 2023, Peter Do was appointed creative director of the brand. In 2010 Helmut Lang personally donated his archive to twelve museums worldwide, including MAK in Vienna, Austria and the Fashion Museum, Bath, England.
Sources: Booknoise.net; New Vision; The New York Times; WWD.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Knee-length parka with a white printed stripe around the lower body. The coat has a welt pocket with large flap. The pocket is framed by a 3cm wide band, shaped with triangular pointed sides. The white stripe flows across the lower band underneath the flap, and the print medium has been visibly hand-painted across the lower band to make an even colour. The centre front closes with five green buttons with leather-bound buttonholes. The top of the centre front has a leather strap which buckles across the neck. The coat has a wool lining, which also forms the top colour. The under collar has a zig-zag topstitching pattern. The back of the coat has a single flap closed with a bound buttonhole (button missing). The cuff is finished with a facing and an internal cuff in the wool fabric. The interior of the coat has silver snap fastener details, and a single pocket closed with a button and tab. The side at the bottom of each side has a wide strap which fastens to the front-facing with two buttons. Made in Italy.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Materials: 90% Cotton 10% resins. Colour: Green. Label details: Helmut Lang. Size M. Produced in 1997. GTR.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Invisible Men exhibition label:
PAINT STRIPE ARMY PARKA
Helmut Lang Jeans
1997
Lang reinterpreted classic functional and archetypal garments, refining them for a modern audience. This army parka is from Lang’s Autumn Winter 1997 diffusion line and references a mid-century rider's coat, with neck strap, extended width button placket, and a set of leg straps that allows the bottom of the coat to be secured to the wearer's legs while riding.
Cotton, resin
Archive no. 2019.47.2
Note
Invisible Men exhibition label:
PAINT STRIPE ARMY PARKA
Helmut Lang Jeans
1997
Lang reinterpreted classic functional and archetypal garments, refining them for a modern audience. This army parka is from Lang’s Autumn Winter 1997 diffusion line and references a mid-century rider's coat, with neck strap, extended width button placket, and a set of leg straps that allows the bottom of the coat to be secured to the wearer's legs while riding.
Cotton, resin
Archive no. 2019.47.2