Fashion icon Raf Simons is shutting down his influential label

Written by Jacqui Palumbo, CNN

Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons will close his eponymous fashion label after 27 years, he announced on Monday. Simons shared the unexpected news on Instagram, writing that his brand’s recently unveiled spring-summer 2023 collection would be his last..

“I am at a loss for words to share how proud I am of all we have accomplished,” he wrote. “I am grateful for the incredible support from my team, my collaborators, the press and buyers, my friends and family, and our devoted fans and loyal fans. Thank you all for believing in our vision and for believing in our vision. me”.

Over the course of nearly three decades, Simons has become a highly revered force within the fashion industry. He launched his youth culture-inspired menswear brand in 1995 and held successive creative director roles at Jil Sander, Christian Dior and Calvin Klein before taking on the role of co-creative director of Prada alongside Miuccia Prada in April 2020, a position that still holds

In 2017, he was named Menswear and Womenswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America for his work at Calvin Klein, and Designer of the Year by the British Fashion Council.

Raf Simons’ label, which began as an underground menswear brand in the 1990s, has become a mainstay on the main catwalks. Credit: Kristy Sparow/Getty Images

Simons did not immediately return a request for comment on the decision to discontinue his label.

True to Simons’ history of taking cues from counterculture music scenes, including new wave, punk and electronica, his final collection was presented at London’s Printworks, a famous nightclub (and former newspaper factory) that will close next year. The presentation, the first for his brand at London Fashion Week, was delayed due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and took place in mid-October. For the show, he avoided the hierarchies common on the catwalks, using the huge space to invite a crowd of 800 people from among and beyond the fashion elite.

Raf Simons previously held roles at Christian Dior (pictured), Jil Sander and Calvin Klein, before taking on a creative director role at Prada in 2020. Credit: Dominique Charriau/WireImage/Getty Images

I didn’t want a show for 300 people sitting in rows,” she told Vogue. “This is a show that is pure democracy. No hierarchy. A London explosion of youth, life, dancing and being together… I was thinking a lot about the body, in relation to dressing and going out and performing.”

In what now seemed to signal the shift in his career, Simons printed phrases from the late Belgian painter Philippe Vandenberg on some of the pieces in the collection.

“They’re cruel words, like ‘Kill them all and dance,'” he said of the prints. “But (Vandenberg) didn’t mean kill people, he meant kill things that you’re doing creatively to move forward and explore more.”

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