In the same week that AnOther launches its Raf Simons x Sterling Ruby cover featuring Kate Moss, we consider Simons' latest concept store
Who? The Raf Simons pop-up store opens today in Antwerp in all its paint-bleached, colourful, nostalgic glory. The coveted A/W14 collection will be available to buy for one month and launches on the same week as the new issue of AnOther Magazine with 4 striking Kate Moss covers, one of which features the almighty Moss wearing the red coat from the collection. The 7-page story is styled by Olivier Rizzo and photographed by Willy Vanderperre, both of whom are close friends with Simons since they studied together in the 1980s at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The shop itself has been launched in collaboration with Vanderperre, alongside commercial director Charlotte Arts.
What? In July, Raf Simons launched inthenameof.be, a curated online concept store which sold limited items from the Raf Simons x Sterling Ruby collection, with stock alternating each week. The result was a weekly online scramble to buy a piece of the collection which has an extremely personal touch: Simons approached each garment like a blank canvas, pulling on intimate photographs tracing back to his childhood. It harked back to an ‘80s nostalgia, driven by a bleached, DIY aesthetic, when a young Simons would sew badges and patches onto his own clothing.
"The collection harks back to an ‘80s nostalgia, driven by a bleached, DIY aesthetic, when a young Simons would sew badges and patches onto his own clothing"
Why? Like the website, the pop-up store will be reinvented each week with a fresh vibe and new products. There will guest DJs and performances, with a special focus on youth culture and music. Youth culture is a term that consistently inspires Simons, driven by the subcultures that shaped his youth. It makes you wonder if Simons himself realises that, in his study of former genres, he himself has become the cult.
inthenameof’s pop-up store is running September 4 – October 13 at The Lange Gastbuisstraat 18, 2000 Antwepen. The latest issue of AnOther Magazine is out now – buy it here.
Text by Mhairi Graham