FASHION ICON RAF SIMONS: 10 INTERESTING FACTS
During his 25 years working in fashion, Belgian-born, Raf Simons has cemented his position as one of the most revolutionary contemporary designers. Originally though, Simons was trained as an Industrial and Furniture designer. After his studies he worked as a furniture designer for various galleries, in Belgium.
Raf decided to become a fashion designer after seeing his first show in 1991 - Martin Margiela’s all-white show, in Milan.
Simons launched his eponymous menswear brand in 1995, encouraged by Linda Loppa, head of the fashion department at the Antwerp Royal Academy at the time. In June 2005, Raf by Raf Simons was launched, which was sold at a lower price point.
By 2000, he was teaching fashion and spent five years in the fashion department at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna whilst also running his own line.
Raf’s first job designing womenswear was as creative director of Jil Sander in 2005. During his six-year tenure he repositioned the brand at the height of the luxury market; not only did he satisfy the German label’s loyal fanbase, but he also increased the following of the brand among fashion connoisseurs.
Raf Simons was appointed Creative Director of Dior in April 2012, putting him in charge of creating six collections a year. Couture was new to him at the time. He wanted to achieve commercial success and not just critical acclaim and positive reviews in the press. This he achieved as sales increased during the three and a half years he worked at the brand.
Raf Simons and his work at Dior was featured in the movie, “Dior and I" (directed by Frédéric Tcheng) which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on 17 April 2014. The film is centered upon Simons' debut season at Dior and is one of the very few movies really showing how couture ateliers work.
Raf has had a number of successful collaborations with big brands the most notable of which is adidas. The collaboration began in 2013 and sees the classic three stripe logo replaced by Simons’ signature R logo on his Stan Smith and Ozweego designs. Other collaborations have included Fred Perry, Asics, Eastpak and Linda Farrow. He has also teamed up with L.A.-based contemporary artist Ruby on projects ranging from a joint clothing collection to the design of Madison Avenue’s yellow-drenched Calvin Klein retail store.
In August 2016, Raf Simons was appointed Chief Creative Officer of Calvin Klein. He moved to New York and travelled extensively in the US to immerse himself in the US mentality and better understand the country, before creating his first collection entitled “All Americana”. Simon's first collection debuted for the Fall 2017 season. New York Magazine stated, "The Most Anticipated Fashion Show in Decades Turned Out to Be Brilliant”. He left Calvin Klein and New York in December 2018.
Raf Simons FW19/20 took place in Paris on the 17th of January 2019. It was very well received by the press and featured beautiful, tailored wool coats in camel and vibrant colors.
Katja Noschis Delaloye Fashion Brand Strategist
Simons' debut season at Dior in May 2012
