Vetements creators to launch new brand through “secret project”

By

Robin Driver

Published
Jun 26, 2021

Vetements, the Zurich-based fashion brand founded by Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia and his brother Guram in 2014, made its presence felt during Paris Fashion Week, despite not revealing a new collection, as it announced a “secret project” involving the launch of a new brand.
 

The announcement was accompanied by the launch of a new Instagram account and a teaser video featuring images of mega-cities and barcodes, interspersed with shots of blooming flowers, machinery, a building being demolished and concertgoers holding their phones above their heads. The video closes with the image of an eye and a launch date: July 22, 2021.
 
According to a release, the new, as-yet-unnamed brand will take its inspiration from traditional menswear and sartorial tailoring, but will cater to all genders. Defining the label’s purpose, the release further described it as “a brand without a logo, but recognizable from far away. A brand that doesn`t exist, but is missed already. A brand from tomorrow, that is based on yesterday, on today.”

All of this, however, is only “the first milestone” in a wider project with much loftier goals. The brand will be launched via a new initiative from the Gvasalia Family Foundation, which is establishing an “experimental laboratory, a multi-dimensional platform for young talent, which could one day replace traditional conglomerate structures by redefining co-working spaces and co-creating experiences.”
 
The platform will support talents of all ages with the mentoring, technical development, production, supply-chain, distribution, and financial support they need to develop their brands freely, away from the kinds of pressure they might be subject to as part of a traditional conglomerate.
 
“If you start your own project, it’s extremely difficult to get the minimum for production to buy the fabrics, to launch things, to do all the paperwork, and so on,” explained Vetements CEO Guram Gvasalia in an interview with Vogue on Friday. “So a lot of brands, they start and it’s very difficult to succeed. Or you go to a corporate structure and then you just get frustrated because it’s not you who is creating. The merchandising teams are telling you what to do.”
 

According to the executive, the platform will prioritize collectives over individuals, with the plan being to help launch multiple brands with distinct aesthetics. “For us, it’s more about creating aesthetics that are missing at the moment, in the industry. It’s not about one person, because the moment you create superstars, you will have the superstars bought by the conglomerates, and then this aesthetic does not exist any longer,” he emphasized.
 
And this secret project doesn’t stop with fashion. Gvasalia is hoping to involve talented people from across different industries in order to create a variety of innovative products and concepts. As an example, the CEO cited his recent launch of a new vegetarian burger at Moscow concept store KM20.  
“I think a brand can do so much more. I think if we’re all together we can really create just great experiences,” concluded Gvasalia.