Helmut Lang AW 02-03 Postcard

“I got that at the original Helmut Lang store, also on Greene Street in New York. And what's' interesting about that space is that it was an original Helmut Lang store, and then Hedi Slimane specifically chose that store, based on it being the Helmut Lang store, to be the new retail space of Saint Laurent. So it’s become the Saint Laurent store now. Richard Gluckman designed the space, and for all the money that’s been spent on luxury fashion brand stores, that one was intellectually the most beautiful one. There was this open space at the entrance, and in the front of the shop he would have his art displayed. Just when you entered the back space, where the clothing was, there was a beautiful Jenny Holzer LED work on the wall. The only takeaways that I remember going into that store from the 90s, were these really thick postcards. They have a sculptural quality to themselves, they’re objects, they’re not just postcards. The conceptual simplicity of a photo on the front with the raw labelling on the back. Helmut Lang is now engaged in the practice of making art, and there are many designers that are attempting the same. He was the first at this and arguably the most successful. He’s been at it for years now. I also think his personal artistic collaborations with Louis Bourgeois, Mapplethorpe Estate and Bruce Webber have been highly influential. - Steven Mark Klein