In 1988, Helmut Lang was the first designer in history to advertise on a taxi top. In November and December 2017, 275 Helmut Lang Taxi’s re-circulated New York City. This advertising amplifies the brands self-reflective attitude and ownership, accentuated through the use of the brand’s iconic ©HELMUT LANG branding.
Paying homage to this historical moment, the brand created three special pieces alongside Art Director Eric Wren. Inspired by the iconic Helmut Lang taxi top, came the TAXI hoodie, crew neck and t-shirt. The collection’s accompanying image reveal and champion the people overlooked in the making of the ©HELMUT LANG‘s brand success. The city taxi drivers themselves feature in the destination designs.
A recent focus for the fashion house has surrounded the bringing together of past and present designs, refreshing and revisiting their work as inspiration for future collections; hence the regeneration and updated TAXI capsule. Re-interpreting the original release, showcasing and having today’s taxi drivers model the pieces, the capsule paints a modern portrait of New York City, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo; an outlook hoped to reflect the brand’s direction.
With the help of young native photographers, the brand aims to capture the vibrant essence and identity of each city. For example, the colours of each destination reflect the tones seen on the taxi’s at each location. The models featured in the lookbook for the limited edition pieces are street cast and used as contemporary brand imagery. Beyond the humour of such process, it genuinely captures the identity and unique feel of each city destination.
