What The Future Of Vetements Looks Like Without Demna Gvasalia

Guram Gvasalia, co-founder and chief executive officer of Vetements, has shed light on what the future of the Zurich-based fashion house looks like without creative director Demna Gvasalia, who announced his exit in September. The brand’s strategy centres around fostering young talent through coworking spaces within Vetements’ offices, and scholarships. Both these incubator programmes will be set up next year.

“Most of the time it’s probably not one person who is designing the brand. No, at the big brands, they have 60 people under the designer,” Guram Gvasalia said at WWD’s Apparel & Retail CEO Summit. He went on to emphasise the importance of fashion as a collective effort. “What we do is put the right people with the right talent together in groups, and we give them the possibility to create something that is new and does not already exist – something that is young, modern and cool,” he said, while highlighting the efforts of all departments, including customs, finance and deliveries. “There is hierarchy in my company that is more than a design job... it’s making everything work in the company.”

In addition to acting like a “big brother” to the next generation of Vetements designers, Gvasalia plans to create small companies focusing on shoes, bags, underwear and sunglasses to support the ready-to-wear business. Growth via different distribution channels will be central to Vetements’ longevity.

Upon his brother’s departure, Gvasalia said, “Vetements has always been a collective of creative minds. We will continue to push the boundaries even further, respecting codes and the authentic values of the brand, and keep on supporting honest creativity and genuine talent.” He hinted that surprise collaborations were in the pipeline, too.