Helmut Lang FW24 Recognizes New York’s Need to Protect and Project

Designer Peter Do crafted a system of dressing that acknowledges humans’ conflicting desires for safety and self-expression.

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In a society riddled with uncertainty and chaos, Helmut Lang provides order and refuge.

“We see the way you look on the streets, looking at your watch, thinking it’s time to go home,” the brand’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection notes read. “Your hands going up to your head, pulling your hood down tight. We see your fingers splayed and searching, reaching for pockets and high collars and systems that aren’t there.” For Fall/Winter 2024, creative director Peter Do constructed that missing system: a wardrobe that works together to make safety the priority, without sacrificing character.

Titled “Protection vs. Projection,” the collection possesses those lacking defensive mechanisms — face shields, cocooning zippers, waterproof hoods and bulletproof materials. Because the truth is: in today’s world, you never know when you might need them.

Vests, bomber jackets and trousers are made with a new silk bubble-wrap textile that includes bulletproof reinforcements. Wool coats and padded nylon puffers employ precautionary head coverings that, as Do notes in a lighthearted bullet point, “don’t mess up hair.” Knitwear is filled with padding, much like that of an astronaut suit. It’s hyper-adaptable and ultra-protective.

Cashmere sweaters, hoodies and pants utilize zippers to “constrict” and “reveal” the human form. Formalwear similarly contours models’ silhouettes with pressurized apex details at different degrees of severity. Shoes are both “weaponized” and “galvanized.” Firemen’s “Safety Orange” offers a metaphor for Helmut Lang’s vigilant outlook in several ensembles. The goal here is to “predict unpredictability,” per the designer.

Despite the line’s danger-defying persona, Do’s latest designs still project the contemporary Helmut Lang personality. Composite suiting silhouettes combine wool (in the front) and ponte jersey (in the back), mimicking the duality of the line’s inspirations and nodding to Lang’s penchant for deconstruction and reconstruction.

Denim, handwoven leather and jacquard knitwear are adorned with Hong Kong’s red-white-and-blue bag prints, while gowns are constructed of hosiery jersey to flatter the body. Several leather coats possess fearless lapel-like collars that fan out to shrine their wearers’ collarbones and faces. Here, “beauty” and “resilience” are Do’s key words. Just because the clothes are protective doesn’t mean they can’t be confident, too.