If you think $900 is too much to spend on a Snoop Dogg T-shirt, you aren't alone. Vetements founder Demna Gvasalia—the man behind the actual design—said that he wouldn't spend that much on his clothes either.
The French brand's luxe take on streetwear has gained it a cult following of celebrities and street style kids, but even Gvasalia admits he isn't "crazy enough" to dish out thousands on graphic tees and re-purposed jeans in an interview with The Telegraph. It's a refreshing take, considering a recent turn of events, including notable Cool Teen Lorde dubbing the brand "uncool," has many questioning if the hype around Vetements is tainting its appeal. And, this was even before WWD reported the brand was invited to show a couture collection as a guest during Paris Couture week.
Gvasalia discussed his brand's steep prices, shares how that DHL shirt made it to the runway, and also defends his all-white cast of models in the interview.
The designer admits that most of his friends can't afford his clothing and that he would rather go on vacation than spend thousands on his pieces. "At the beginning it was just very hard," he told The Telegraph. "We were very small and you have to fight with factories about quantities and they give you prices that are absolutely unworkable. But my ultimate goal is to be able to offer different things so the people who can’t afford to buy a leather jacket can buy a trench."
"We have this one raincoat [black with Vetements printed in white on the back] which I see everybody wear because it’s £150," Gvasalia said. "My friends very often can’t afford the clothes. Like myself, I wear prototypes but I don’t think I’m crazy fashion enough to go and buy those things. I’d rather go on holiday. I feel like it brings more use. Holidays are important. Holidays and quality time on your sofa."
Gvasalia also finally explains the story behind that viral yellow DHL tee. The $300 shirt modeled after the delivery company flew off the shelves, and now according to Lorde is being worn by "your lame friend down the road."
"For me, it was such a recurring topic in my life," he told The Telegraph. "Every day someone was saying, 'The package didn’t arrive, we have to stop working with DHL, we will be bankrupt by DHL.' DHL seemed to be more a part of my life than anything else so I thought, why isn’t it in the show?" Gvasalia says DHL gave Vetements the copyright to the logo in exchange for 20 T-shirts.
Gvasalia also addresses the criticism he received after sending an all-white cast of models down the runway for both Vetements and Balenciaga, where he acts as the brand's creative director. When previously asked about his choice, Gvasalia declined comment on it. Now, he says that the color of the models skin wasn't a deciding factor for his models.
"Well, I thought at a time when Donald Trump might be a President of the United States that I, a clothes maker, have to make political statement about ethnic diversity is funny," said Gvasalia. "Our criteria for choosing models was purely based on the idea of diversity of character. We had very different types of girls but Lotta [Volkova, stylist and model] who works with me, we come from this cultural background where [race] is not even an issue. We don’t even have that thing to think we have to be politically correct. I guess the criticism is justified but from my point of view it was the attitude of those girls that was important for me not the shade of their skin or their origin."
To read the entire interview head here.
