Raf Simons

Raf Simons studied industrial design in Genk, Belgium and worked briefly as a furniture designer before encountering Maison Martin Margiela in 1991 — a meeting that redirected him entirely. He apprenticed under Walter Van Beirendonck, founded his own menswear label in 1995, and presented his first runway collection in 1997. The vocabulary was specific from the start: post-punk youth culture, contemporary art references, Belgian school deconstruction, slim teenage silhouettes, and an obsessive interest in graphics, music, and visual rebellion. The Raf Simons line ran through some of the most consequential creative chapters of his generation: the 'Disorder. Incubation. Isolation.' collection (1998), the 'Riot, Riot, Riot' moment (2001), the Sterling Ruby collaborations, the recurring use of artists' work on garments as commentary. Simultaneously he held a string of major creative directorships — Jil Sander (2005-2012), Christian Dior (2012-2015), Calvin Klein (2016-2018), and Prada (2020 to present, as co-creative director with Miuccia Prada). In 2022 Simons surprised the industry by closing his namesake line, citing creative exhaustion and a desire to focus on the Prada role. The archive remains widely collected (a 1990s Simons graphic tee can fetch four figures at resale), and the cultural influence — through alumni who have gone on to lead other houses — remains enormous. Few designers have shaped contemporary menswear, both at the avant-garde and at the maison-level, as completely as Raf Simons.