Vetements Has a Unilateral Plan to Shake Up the Shows

Just as everyone is talking about the “broken” fashion system—the breakneck speed of it, the distress to designers, the proliferation of pre-collections, the impossibility of competing with fast fashion—Vetements, the collective which is the other most-talked-about subject of the season, is taking unilateral action to put a brake on it. From next January, Vetements will be mixing its women’s and menswear collections together in one show in Paris, two months ahead of thewomen’s shows, which traditionally commence their rounds in New York, London, Milan, and Paris.

It’s a seismic shake-up that Guram Gvasalia, Vetements’s 30-year-old CEO, has strategized with his elder brother, creative director Demna. Their aim is a sweeping plan to cut out the necessity for pre-collections, beat the copyists, stop overproduction, and persuade others to come with them. “Designers are human beings who need to have some spare time to get rest and gather strength. Instead, designers are put under enormous pressure and insane schedules,” says Guram. “The industrial machine sucks out their creativity, chews them up, and spits them out. Once a genius, the designer is left behind incapable of being creative. Reducing to two main collections will give designers enough time to revitalize.”

But that is just the beginning of their cure for the predicament fashion finds itself in. In an exclusive conversation with Vogue.com, Guram lays out their thinking with an analytical thoroughness that will astonish anyone who has assumed that Vetements, with its nightclub shows and their edgy friends, is a disorganized gang of underground upstarts from Eastern Europe.

The style of their clothes, based, as the name denotes, on practical streetwear, has swept fashion as an influence, and earned Demna the creative directorship ofBalenciaga. So far, so “fashion,” but there’s much more substance behind it: logical business thinking, and a fearlessness that comes from the brothers’ background.

The Gvasalias were born in a small town in the former USSR state of Georgia, fled their hometown with their family during a civil war in the ’90s, and settled in Düsseldorf in Germany. Demna became a designer, studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, and then worked at Maison Martin Margiela and Louis Vuitton. Guram, four years younger, had a math brain precociously driven by the need to understand business and question its behaviors. He gained degrees in international business and European management and law at German universities, and crucial experience in sales at Burberry. By the time he joined Demna to take on Vetements’s back-of-house operations, they were fully prepared. In the first season they gained 27 stockists. “I want to stress,” says Guram, “that we’ve been profitable from day one.”

What they’re taking on—a plan to lead a change in the schedule for everyone—is a conscious parallel to Helmut Lang’s fateful move when he announced he was showing in New York ahead of the entire season. Then, Lang’s action reconfigured the world order of shows as Calvin Klein and Donna Karan followed suit, and then all of the New York designers fell in line.

Years later, the Gvasalias are taking on the same kind of gamble. They’re not afraid of the risk. “Everything has its time, and sometimes in life, someone needs to take the first step. We’re ready for the consequences coming at us,” says Guram. “Russian people say: ‘Who doesn’t risk, doesn’t drink champagne?’ ”

Why do you think it’s necessary to pull the Vetements show back to January, instead of showing in early March, with the rest of the women’s shows?
Today, retailers spend 70 to 80 percent of their budget on pre-collections, so the main collections become less relevant. Collections shown in March can only get delivered in July, or perhaps September or October. The U.S. retailers go on sale right after Thanksgiving. Therefore, main collections stay on the floor to sell at full price, for eight weeks on average. Bringing back the main collections from March to January will result in extending the shelf life of the clothes for an additional four months.

You’ve said Vetements will never do pre-collections, only two collections a year. Why?
Pre-collections were created to make sure stores get earlier deliveries and have enough merchandise all the time to support conspicuous consumption. The business heads thought that the more they produced, the more they would sell.

The main misunderstanding of that model is that when one cuts a pie in eight or 16 slices, the size of the pie remains the same. There’s only a certain number of people willing to acquire a certain number of goods.

Once demand is satisfied, I see additional supply as wasted. If goods are left on sale, it means they were overproduced. Luxury, which once meant scarcity, has become “a bargain.” Reducing the number of collections means reducing the supply curve, and in this way, increasing the demand.

Your plan is to show women’s and men’s collections at the same time, in the same show. Is that a philosophical point of view, or is it to save money, too?
Showing men’s and women’s at the same time connects us to real life. Today, men wear womenswear and women dress in men’s clothes. Gender is not a given fact anymore; a person has the right to choose one. Times change. Splitting genders in two is against the natural flow of today’s reality. Apart from the philosophical point of view, in fact, it saves money and time for everyone, starting with brands to buyers and press.

How do you, Demna, and your friends define Vetements? The name comes from very practical roots, but how democratic do you want it to be—and how do you square that with believing, as you have said, that luxury is scarcity?
We would like to make our pieces more democratic so more of the brand followers can afford things. It creates a dilemma, though, as we want to maintain a certain level of quality. Our entire production is based in Europe; we work with over 20 factories, each specializing in a certain product category to ensure the authenticity of each product. For example, each pair of our jeans is made out of two pairs of vintage Levi’s. It takes an atelier in Paris over six hours of handwork to make one pair. Therefore, it’s challenging to compete with the high street.

Luxury is something that is scarce. We don’t all need as much clothes as we buy. It’s so much better to go from the fast fashion to the slow fashion, and instead of buying 10 pieces, get one that will last for years.

Is the goal to outstrip fast fashion and copyists in the race to the stores?
Today, when you have a show, pictures are being directly transferred to factories that manage to copy your product and deliver it to their shelves in less than three weeks. This means the high street delivers the same item four or five months earlier than you do the original.

Our goal is to swap the traditional seasons in the future. Instead of showing Autumn/Winter in January, we will show Spring/Summer and deliver it in February—so stores can sell it in the actual spring weather, through to August. To reach this result, the whole production will have to be pre-produced. It means each piece in the collection will be part of a limited edition. No restock. One delivery. The true definition of luxury is something that is scarce. It would be nice to give luxury back its true meaning.

Do you think you are taking a risk with these decisions—or are you so small, young, and nimble a brand that you can do what you like?
Every decision has a certain risk level. Life is about making choices. And if you fall, you should get back up and continue going.

BMX and X Games star Dave Mirra dies at 41 in apparent suicide

Pro BMX biker Dave Mirra, who was one of the most decorated athletes in X Games history, was found dead Thursday of an apparent suicide. He was 41.

Officers in Greenville, N.C., found Mirra in a parked truck, killed by what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a statement released by the Greenville Police Department.

Mirra was a beloved figure in the world of extreme sports, and his name headlined several BMX video games.  Until the 2013 X Games in Munich, he held the record for the most medals in history with 24. Of those, 14 were gold medals.

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More recently, Mirra had pursued a different extreme sport: triathlons and Ironman competitions.

“Ironman competitions are an entirely different ballgame. The level of competition is much higher, and there are way more athletes,” Mirra told Sports Illustrated. He qualified for the 2014 Mont Tremblant Ironman World Championship in Canada.

“It was extremely satisfying to look around and see what I consider the best athletes in the world as my competition,” Mirra told the publication.

Mirra also briefly hosted the MTV series “Real World/Road Rules Challenge" and appeared in an episode of the sitcom "George Lopez."

In Greenville, Mirra was credited for making the city a hub of BMX activity. More than 20 professional BMX riders call the city home, police said.

The mayor of Greenville, Allen Thomas, praised Mirra as “a great friend and wonderful human being.”

Mirra “was as humble a guy talking with kids on a street corner about bikes as he was in his element on the world stage,” Thomas said.

He is survived by his wife and two children.

See the most-read stories in Sports this hour >>

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Here’s what to expect in the New Hampshire Republican primary

CONCORD, N.H. — Sen. Ted Cruz defeated Donald Trump in Iowa on Monday night, but he faces a strikingly different set of challenges in trying to replicate that victory in New Hampshire’s primary next week. He has a lesser organization here, has spent less time here, and can’t count on such a large evangelical electorate.

History provides a clear warning. In 2008 and 2012, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum won the Iowa Republican caucuses with heavy support from evangelicals. Both then arrived here lacking a strong organization, lost this state and failed to become the GOP nominees.

With the Republican Party’s focus on Iowa now complete, the spotlight on ethanol and evangelicals is out. Now begins an eight-day sprint that in many ways will be entirely different because New Hampshire’s voters reflect a very different side of the GOP. They’re socially moderate and fiscally frugal, and use a primary voting system that allows greater participation by independent-minded voters who revel in upsetting the conventional wisdom.

It’s why a handful of GOP “establishment” candidates who did poorly in Iowa think they’ll perform better here.

“New Hampshire voters reset elections. That’s what you all do. . . . The reset starts here tonight,” former Florida governor Jeb Bush defiantly told about 300 supporters at Manchester’s Alpine Club on Monday night.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told a crowd in Hopkinton Monday night that Iowa “has passed the ball to you.” The field would soon be thinned. “You all,” he said, “are going to decide it.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich told an audience of about 200 at Bow Elementary School on Sunday that “you come here, and you look and you poke, once in a while you smell and you try to decide, is this our leader? Whether I win or not, I believe in this process. I believe that folks in New Hampshire are the best screeners that America can have to recommend to the country.”And yet, Iowa and New Hampshire share more in common this cycle, thanks to Donald Trump. He has held a double-digit lead over his GOP opponents here for more than 30 weeks and dominates the headlines — just as he did in Iowa before losing to Cruz there on Monday.

[Live updates from Iowa]

Cruz’s first place finish in Iowa and a stronger-than-expected showing for Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, just behind Trump, could immediately scramble the top tier of the race.

For now, Trump is favored by 38 percent of GOP primary voters in New Hampshire, according to a Boston Herald-Franklin Pierce University poll released Sunday. Cruz is a distant second at 13 percent, followed by Rubio and Bush, 10 percent; Kasich, 8 percent; and Christie, 5 percent.

A CNN-WMUR-TV poll released Sunday showed similar results: Trump with 30 percent, followed by Cruz, 12 percent; Rubio, 11 percent; Kasich, 9 percent; Christie, 8 percent; and Bush with 6 percent.

New Hampshire Republican polling “has been stable for months now,” Dante Scala, an associate professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire, said by email. Surveys have shown “only minor shifts” among the “establishment” candidates — Rubio, Bush, Kasich and Christie — making it difficult to track any widespread switch in support from one to the other, he said.

Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, agreed, saying that if any of the four establishment candidates can find a way to jump ahead in New Hampshire, this will shake up the entire race.

That’s why Bush, Christie, Kasich and Rubio see New Hampshire as their last opportunity to emerge as the anti-Trump.

While Rubio placed a strong third in Iowa, the other establishment candidates trailed far behind. Bush earned 3 percent support, topping Christie and Kasich, who each earned 2 percent.In New Hampshire, Kasich held his 89th town hall meeting on Monday night. Christie has held 114 public events in the state since launching his campaign in June. Bush, who has most relentlessly attacked Trump as unqualified to be president, hosted his 80th public event in the state on Monday night. Rubio has been in New Hampshire less frequently, but is certain to earn renewed interest starting Tuesday.[Large crowds turn up in Iowa]

That has led many New Hampshirites to look down on the Iowa caucuses, a view most famously summed by Republican former governor John H. Sununu, who once said that Iowa picks corn and New Hampshire picks presidents. Many people here in both parties agree.

“I’ve yet to ever run into a New Hampshire voter who says, ‘Nah, I was going to vote for you, but your guy finished fourth instead of third in Iowa.’ They don’t exist up here,” said John Weaver, a top consultant to Kasich’s presidential campaign who advised McCain during previous primaries. “If you work hard, as the governor has done, and you put deep roots in the state, as we have done, you have to feel pretty good about withstanding whatever happens.”

David Price of Weare, N.H., attended Kasich’s event Sunday at the school and said he would take note of how Iowa voted. “But as a true New Hampshirite, I look at it independently,” he said.

Price called Kasich “a very personable individual” but added that right now “I’m leaning to . . . Jeb Bush.”

Arthur Moore, a retired physician from Bow, said he planned to learn more about Kasich but is also considering Bush and Rubio. Whomever Moore chooses, he said that “they’ve got to get rid of Trump — he’s a loose cannon, he’s a narcissist.”

During Critical Campaign Period, Ben Carson Heads Home To Get Fresh Clothes

These first two weeks of February are critical for presidential candidates, who are rushing between Iowa and New Hampshire to get in as much face time with voters as possible. 

Ben Carson, however, is taking a break.

His campaign announced that he will leave Iowa on Monday night and head to Florida to get some clean clothes. His aides said he was not ending his faltering presidential bid. CNN reported that Carson was expected to speak to supporters at his Iowa party before the full caucus results were in, so he could catch his flight home.

Flying to Florida is a long trip to simply do laundry or grab some clean clothes from his closet. Other options would have been for Carson to wash his clothes in Iowa or stop at a nearby store to pick up some new items.

After receiving a burst of support in November, Carson's prominence has waned. During recent GOP debates, he has mostly received attention for appearing to be asleep.

Some candidates who have struggled to gain ground in Iowa -- former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, for example -- are already in New Hampshire and holding events there. Most others are heading to the state on Tuesday and resuming campaigning.

Empty chairs at Trump rally: Is it the weather, or something else?

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a campaign rally on Monday in Waterloo, Iowa. (Photo: Khue Bui for Yahoo News)

WATERLOO, Iowa — It was, as Donald Trump might say, a “low energy” event.

When the Republican frontrunner took the stage here at the first of two final rallies in the hours before Iowans head to caucus, Trump was greeted by rows of empty chairs and a crowd that seemed smaller and less raucous than audiences at his other events here in recent days. Part of it may have had to do with the weather, which included icy roads and dense fog so thick that Trump joked he might have to “get the hell out of here” early to make the next event in Cedar Rapids because he couldn’t fly.

“No, no, no, I’ll stay,” he said.

Still, Trump, who seemed exhausted, tried to rev up the crowd as best he could — with varying success. He urged supporters to turn out for him Monday night, to help him begin what he described as a “revolution” to claim the Republican nomination and ultimately the White House. “It’s crunch time,” he said again and again.

Some seats remain empty while Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Waterloo, Iowa. (Photo: Khue Bui for Yahoo News)

Slideshow: On the trail and down to the wire in Iowa >>>

In his characteristically rambling stump speech, Trump made vague last-minute appeals to almost every single one of Iowa’s voting demographics — promising that he’ll turn around the economy, stop attacks from ISIS and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. But he gave a special shoutout to evangelical voters, saying nobody had been “nicer” to him since he kicked off his campaign. “I think the evangelicals really get me,” Trump said.

While Trump said he expected to have a “good night,” he also acknowledged the unknowns of his campaign heading into Monday’s vote. Though he leads many polls and has long attracted big crowds, Trump admitted that none of that matters if people don’t turn out to caucus for him. He needed more than “fans,” he told the audience here.

Buzz Anderson of Waterloo, Iowa, shows his American flag tie following the Trump rally on Monday. (Photo: Khue Bui for Yahoo News)

“The more people that turn out, the better we are going to do,” he said.

“Thankfully,” he said, the anticipated blizzard would likely not hit until after caucus time. But he said people had no other excuses not to turn out. “If you are in bed, if you’re sick, if you can’t walk,” it doesn’t matter, he said. “You have to go out tonight and caucus.”

Black History Month Is Here And We’re Honoring It In A Special Way

Black History Month Is Here And We’re Honoring It In A Special Way

For forty years, America has observed Black History Month as a time to reflect on the revolutionary work black people have contributed to this country's history. What first began in 1926 as Negro History Week thanks to noted scholar Carter G. Woodson has evolved into a month-long celebration of black progress and power. But as time passes and the country’s racial climate changes, the ways in which we recognize and honor Black History Month have since evolved too -- and we at HuffPost Black Voices are highlighting the significance of the annual tradition in our own special way.  

This year, Black Voices is once again commemorating Black History Month by inviting you to enjoy our “Black Future Month” series. Throughout the month, we are not only paying tribute to the achievements of yesterday but are also reflecting on how to create a better tomorrow for black America“We can’t afford to solely commemorate the past. We must seize the opportunity to change the course of history by shaping our future,” Opal Tometi, co-founder of theBlack Lives Matter Network & #BlackLivesMatter, wrote in a Black Voices blog postfor the launch of our “Black Future” series last year.

Today, Tometi’s words seem more relevant than ever, which is why we’re bringing back the series and expanding it. The Black Lives Matter movement has made a hugely significant impact on the ways we discuss race: It has highlighted the inadequacies among America’s justice system and tackled the nation’s ongoing racial disparities. As a result, it has bred a new crop of civil rights fighters who are speaking up, fighting back and making history every day.

So as part of our “Black Future” series, we’re honoring black visionaries who have adopted the movement’s mission as their own. We believe these individuals exemplify black excellence and are using their voice to unify and uplift others across the fields of entertainment, media, activism and business.

In addition, Black Voices has teamed up with Black Lives Matter Network to take a deeper look at 29 different cultural and political issues affecting black lives. For each day in February, we will publish a piece written by a black writer who will examine an important issue and envision the ways we can work together to help solve it. The topics will include everything from education and employment to policing and criminal justice reform.

HuffPost is also launching a new podcast that will take a look at the real history of Reconstruction. Artist and activist Michael Render, popularly known as Killer Mike, will host a series of conversations with established historians to explore some of the most pivotal events of the era. The podcast, titled "Killer History: Reconstruction," will release later this month -- keep up with updates here.At Black Voices, we understand both the burden and beauty of blackness -- and we are committed to telling stories that explore all the complexities of our identity and culture. We pay tribute to black heroes of the past and praise those among us today. And that’s not something we’re only devoted to doing in February, it is a mission we uphold every damn day.

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But because white history is the dominant narrative in America and because it casts a shadow over black history, we’re doubling down this month and recommitting to telling the stories of black past, present and future. 

We invite you to follow our “Black Future Month” series on social media on Facebook  and Twitter with the hashtag #BlackFutureMonth. Join us in the conversation this Black History Month as we remind the world that black lives have always mattered, and they always will.

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