Visiting the exhibition “Helmut Lang. Séance de Travail 1986–2005″ at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna brought back a lot of happy memories of conceiving our German-speaking fashion-culture magazine ACHTUNG at the beginning of the millennium as Helmut Lang was our very first advertiser who took the prestigious position of the opening spread. ACHTUNG started in 2003 in Berlin but the support by Lang was short-lived as he decided to turn his back on the fashion world shortly thereafter fully dedicating his life to his artistic practice. Considering the current brutal sacking of Dario Vitale at Versace, memories come back of Lang being bought by Prada in the early 2000s which produced an unhappy marriage as the Italian owner’s desire to dictate rubbed Lang the wrong way and he stepped away. And Jil Sander for that matter. And yes, in an industry which is all about comebacks, Lang very much resisted his own even while he was offered multiple and extremely lucrative deals – allegedly LVMH, Kering, Richemont or the fast-fashion giants from Spain and Sweden all came knocking. He declined (Jil Sander had three comebacks). We admit, Helmut Lang was our totem fashion designer, his look made Middle European tailoring and regimental uniforms a global style phenomenon which brought us particular pride as we understood viscerally its beginnings in a European off-the-fashion-grid city like Vienna. We identified and along with Jil Sander cementing her pure fashion ethos from Hamburg, the German-speaking world was suddenly part of the international fashion circuit.
Helmut Lang, Probedruck einer Werbeanzeige für die Zeitschrift National Geographic, Helmut Lang Collection Hommes Femmes Séance de Travail # Hiver 02/03 (2002).MAK Helmut Lang Archiv, LNI 1778-4-22. Courtesy of hl-art.
Video taken by our editor in chief at the opening of HELMUT LANG. SÉANCE DE TRAVAIL 1986–2005 at MAK Vienna.
Lang was a major part of the early 80s Austrian fashion scene. Styling shoots, working for traditional Trachten-makers like Gössl, or collaborating with cobbler Ludwig Reiter. Running into Markus Peichl at the exhibition, the founder of Wiener and Tempo, he reminisced about going to Lang’s very first fashion show at the Secession museum. Lang had his fingers everywhere but then cleverly expanded his universe by surrounding himself with artists like Kurt Kocherscheidt who taught him about trusting his instinct versus following a market demand. The way of life of an artist being the noble path to pursue became Lang’s guiding star. Touring the show here in Vienna yesterday one thing became clear: The writing was on the wall all along. Or maybe from the moment Helmut Lang embarked on his first major artist collaboration with Jenny Holzer for the Florence Biennale in 1996, when they projected large-scale word sequence poetry on Florentine walls which read “I Smell You On My Skin” – also a precursor to his fragrance launches under his namesake brand at the beginning of the 2000s. Here is a former fashion designer who has fully transformed to be an artist in a breathtaking but also stubborn way. Suddenly, his New York City cabbie top advertisements are seen through the lens of a pioneering multi-disciplinary media artist exploring new surfaces. His backstage photos, a precursor to an obsession with model lifestyles and revelations of what happens behind a fashion show – while BTS reels are part of a rural department store ad campaign now. In hindsight, the SoHo flagship store executed with architect Richard Gluckman looked like the art gallery it was supposed to be in the first place and not like the clothing store.
Helmut Lang, Helmut Lang Parfums Beihefter aus der Zeitung The New York Times, Text von Jenny Holzer (2001).MAK Helmut Lang Archiv, LNI 572-2-3. Courtesy of hl-art.
Helmut Lang, New York City Taxi Top, Werbung, 1998–2004.MAK Helmut Lang Archiv, LNI 649. Foto: MAK/Christian Mendez.
Helmut Lang, Show Fitting Polaroid auf Papier mit handschriftlichen Look Beschreibungen, Helmut Lang Collection Hommes Femmes Séance de Travail Défilé # Hiver 01/02 (2001). Abgebildete Personen: Stella Tennant und Iván de Pineda. MAK Helmut Lang Archiv. Courtesy of hl-art. & Helmut Lang, „Helmutlang Backstage“ Schablone, Helmut Lang Collection Hommes Femmes Séance de Travail # Été 94 (1993), Helmut Lang Collection Hommes Femmes Séance de Travail # Hiver 94/95 (1994).MAK Helmut Lang Archiv, LNI 1780-3-1-1. Courtesy of hl-art.
Helmut Lang, Interieur des Helmut Lang Flagship Stores, 80 Greene Street, New York, gestaltet von Helmut Lang und Gluckman Mayner Architects (1997), Fotografie von Paul Warchol (1998).MAK Helmut Lang Archive. Courtesy of hl-art.
The difference?
The show’s curator Marlies Wirth has been at MAK for most of her career and she specializes in new media and digital art. Seeing her non-textile look on Lang’s work and her alternative vision on including pieces like shredded archive columns in the seating chart room brought an exciting fresh look to the oeuvre. MAK directress Lilli Hollein and Wirth both visited Lang at this home on Long Island to convince him to participate and ensure that this was more than clothes on mannequins that the Costume Institute in New York trademarked. Here is an exhibit that meaningfully traces the transformation of a fashion designer to an artist.
MAK Ausstellungsansicht, 2025 / Kapitel Séance de TravailHELMUT LANG. SÉANCE DE TRAVAIL 1986–2005 / Excerpts from the MAK Helmut Lang ArchiveMAK Ausstellungshalle© kunst-dokumentation.com/MAK
MAK Ausstellungsansicht, 2025 / Kapitel Séance de TravailHELMUT LANG. SÉANCE DE TRAVAIL 1986–2005 / Excerpts from the MAK Helmut Lang ArchiveMAK Ausstellungshalle© kunst-dokumentation.com/MAK
Why Helmut Lang was not there?
It seems that he views physical presence on the celebration of his work as unnecessary or as a way of heightening the myth. It works – Lang also never showed up when his newly adopted American home tried to bestow honors like the CFDA awards. He has always been a no-show.
MAK Ausstellungsansicht, 2025 / Kapitel BackstageHELMUT LANG. SÉANCE DE TRAVAIL 1986–2005 / Excerpts from the MAK Helmut Lang ArchiveHelmut Lang, Astro Bikerjacke, New York, 1998MAK Ausstellungshalle© kunst-dokumentation.com/MAK
HELMUT LANG. SÉANCE DE TRAVAIL 1986–2005 is running until May 3rd, 2026 at MAK, Vienna.
