“Getting Into Helmut Lang’s Mindset” at a New Exhibition in Vienna

When a blockbuster new Helmut Lang exhibition opens in Vienna on December 10, it will have been 7,625 days since the designer announced his departure from his brand. MAK’s show “ Helmut Lang Séance De Travail 1986–2005 ,” demonstrates how Lang, now working as an artist, is still influencing how we experience fashion—and not only with regard to what comes down the catwalk, but also in terms of brand identity, as expressed internally, through retail, and via external communication. The museum is uniquely positioned to do all this as it is home to the largest Lang archive. Thanks, in part, to a donation from the designer in 2011, it encompasses 10,000 items, some of which are garments, but the majority being materials—lookbooks, advertising campaigns, Polaroids, proofs, tear sheets, backsta