Since the 1980s, Helmut Lang has brought his architectural, deconstructivist aesthetic to clothing design, and now a comprehensive archive book spanning 1986-2005 documents his vast body of work.
Over the last year, printings.jp have been trawling the archive of the Austrian-born designer. The team painstakingly obtained pieces owned by multiple individuals and carefully photographed them piece by piece over several months. The result is a sprawling document of Lang's sharp silhouettes and cutting edge fabrics that traces his career between 1986 and 2005. The book is particularly significant given Lang famously destroyed 6,000 pieces of work for his exhibition Make It Hard exhibition.
The latest book from printings.jp follows the printings of Raf Simons' 1996-2001 / 2001-2006, Marina Yee's Micro Book, and Ronald Stoops' Work Ronald Friends. As with the Raf Simons archive book, the photographs for 1986-2005 were edited and made into a set of two books.
The book was launched at Dover Street Market Ginza yesterday, April 6, for ¥33,000 (approximately $295). A limited number of copies will also be released through printings.jp, and shipping begins mid-April 2019.
