See 5 Newly Archived Raf Simons Runway Shows—And Shop His Archive Redux Reissue

In honor of Raf Simons's Archive Redux, we've digitized five archival shows with never before seen imagery.

See 5 Newly Archived Raf Simons Runway Shows—And Shop His Archive Redux Reissue

If you whisper Raf Simons’s name into the wind, fashion lovers magically appear. That’s what the process was like working with Simons’s teams in Antwerp and New York to add five of his most essential shows to the Vogue Runway archive: Fall 1999 “Disorder—Incubation—Isolation”; Spring 2000 “Summa Cum Laude”; Spring 2002 “Woe Unto Those Who Spit on the Fear Generation … The Wind Will Blow it Back”; Fall 2002 “Virginia Creeper”; and Fall 2003 “Closer.” 

The occasion for reflection comes as Simons reissues 100 of his most iconic pieces in a capsule collection called Raf Simons Archive Redux, which has been wildly buzzed about since the designer announced the project last summer. Again, the sheer mention of it pulls fashion lovers out of the woodwork—in the months I have been working on this project, somewhere in the vicinity of three dozen different people have messaged me asking about it. 

One of the first was David Casavant, the New York-based collector and archivist who perhaps single-handedly vaulted Simons’s past pieces into icon status by placing them on Kanye West, Rihanna, and other influential celebrities. “Remaking the original pieces shows how fashion is looked at as more of an art form now, where the original works are appreciated to such an extent to re-issue them,” Casavant says. “I’m excited to see core grail pieces like the hoodies and parkas and how they’re remade.” (As for how new Raf pieces on the market might affect his extensive archive, Casavant equates it to rare books: Original issues retain value while newer prints spread the word to new audiences.)

This story originally appeared on: Vogue - Author:Steff Yotka