“I SAY THE WORD/I SAY YOUR NAME/I COVER YOU/I SHELTER YOU” – Jenny Holzer for Helmut Lang.
Central to the 1990s, Helmut Lang belongs to a generation of effacement. Seeking to abolish fashion, he began by disappearing. No spectacle: clothing. No shows: seances. Technical materials, countless pockets, a sliver of skin: utilitarian and erotic. Transparent and invisible, Lang reframes clothing, atomizes fashion.
In its fine meshing, the brand realizes its most striking act of communication with the artist Jenny Holzer: a radical declaration.
Ex-Collab, celebrated for occupying Times Square, Jenny Holzer is read everywhere and seen nowhere. Her material is text: orders, epiphanies, slogans – Truisms, Inflammatory Essays, Laments.
A truism is a truth so obvious, that it needs no author.
4 dates, 1 movement.
1996, Venice – Vienna meets New York.
The artist Jenny Holzer and the designer Helmut Lang fill a white cube with one fragrance and three sentences.
“YOU ARE THE ONE/YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DID THIS TO ME/YOU ARE MY OWN”
Declarations of love? of ownership? the start of a fruitful partnership.
1998, SoHO.
The duo redefines the shop as space. Clothing gallery, art shop – the tills are hidden, there is nothing – nothing but clothing.
2000, 80 Greene St.
Large-scale perfume campaign: no model, no slogan – a black poem on white paper: “I BITE YOUR LIP/I BREATHE YOUR BREATH.”
Lang makes fashion a text, Holzer a text, fashion.
January 7th, 2015, Sperone Westwater Gallery.
Lang left fashion ten years ago – his first art show opens tomorrow. In the prodigious space lie masses of “fabric confetti”, a cluster of the archive the designer shredded upon his departure.
Helmut Lang destroyed clothing – only forms remain.
“I RUN FROM YOU/I SLEEP BESIDE YOU/I SMELL YOU ON MY CLOTHES/I KEEP YOUR CLOTHES”.
![](https://husbands-paris.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Helmut-Lang-archive.-long-sleeve-t-shirt-padded-silk-velcro-vest.-1999.jpg)
![Helmut Lang. Jenny Holzer](https://husbands-paris.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Helmut-Lang.-Jenny-Holzer.jpg)
Helmut Lang. Jenny Holzer.
![Helmut Lang. artwork by Jenny Holzer. art dir. Marc Atlan.jpg](https://husbands-paris.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Helmut-Lang.-artwork-by-Jenny-Holzer.-art-dir.-Marc-Atlan.jpg.jpg)
Perfume Ad Campaign. artwork by Jenny Holzer. art dir. Marc Atlan.jpg
![Helmut Lang campaign. photo unknown. 1992](https://husbands-paris.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Helmut-Lang-campaign.-photo-unknown.-1992.jpg)
Helmut Lang campaign. photo unknown. 1992
![Helmut Lang. First Look. by Walter Pfeiffer. 1984](https://husbands-paris.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Helmut-Lang.-First-Look.-by-Walter-Pfeiffer.-1984.jpg)
Helmut Lang. First Look. by Walter Pfeiffer. 1984
![Helmut Lang Perfume Ad Campaign. artwork by Jenny Holzer. art dir. Marc Atlan](https://husbands-paris.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Helmut-Lang-Perfume-Ad-Campaign.-artwork-by-Jenny-Holzer.-art-dir.-Marc-Atlan.jpg)
Helmut Lang Perfume Ad Campaign. artwork by Jenny Holzer. art dir. Marc Atlan.
![Helmut Lang, Jenny Holzer, Shop Interiors. Store Concept by Richard Gluckman](https://husbands-paris.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Helmut-Lang-Jenny-Holzer-Shop-Interiors.-Store-Concept-by-Richard-Gluckman.jpg)
Helmut Lang, Jenny Holzer, Shop Interiors. Store Concept by Richard Gluckman.
![ARNO. by Jennu Holzer. Florence, 1996](https://husbands-paris.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/ARNO.-by-Jennu-Holzer.-Florence-1996.jpg)
ARNO. by Jennu Holzer. Florence, 1996ARNO. by Jennu Holzer. Florence, 1996
![HELMUT LANG PARIS. phot. by Jenny Holzer. paris](https://husbands-paris.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/HELMUT-LANG-PARIS.-phot.-by-Jenny-Holzer.-paris.jpg)
HELMUT LANG PARIS. phot. by Jenny Holzer. paris
![Nipple Tank. Helmut Lang Menswear. 2004](https://husbands-paris.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Nipple-Tank.-Helmut-Lang-Menswear.-2004.jpg)
NIPPLE TANK. Helmut Lang Menswear. 2004
![jenny-holzer--with-you-inside-me-comes-the-knowledge-of-my-death](https://husbands-paris.com/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/jenny-holzer-with-you-inside-me-comes-the-knowledge-of-my-death.jpg)
Helmut Lang Ad. by Jenny Holzer. 1989.
- JAMES BALDWIN« clear, lucid, and familiar, yet punctuated and powerful »
- THE SHOULDER« tailors also see it as the place of their uniqueness»
- KITANO, THREE MOVEMENTS« His countenance and clothes then become the way to read him.»
- THE PICK STITCH« historically done by hand, with a striking visual detail in lighter, brighter fabrics »