Out of seemingly nowhere, your favourite rapper’s favourite designer, Raf Simons, has announced the end of his eponymous brand. The Belgian designer took to the brand’s Instagram account to announce the end of the highly coveted and sought-after line after 27 years. While no reason has been given for the sudden shuttering of the brand, there is little to no doubt about the significant impact Simons has had on and in the fashion industry. Launching his youth culture-inspired menswear label in 1995, he has also held successive creative director roles at Jil Sander, Christian Dior and Calvin Klein before jumping into the now-held role as co-creative director at Prada alongside Miuccia Prada.
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Declaring, “I lack the words to share how proud I am of all that we have achieved,” he wrote. “I am grateful for the incredible support from my team, from my collaborators, from the press and buyers, from my friends and family, and from our devoted fans and loyal followers.” To make the shock to the fashion elite even more sudden, the final collection to drop will be the Spring/Summer 2023 collection which was shown in London last month. So make sure you get your pieces now, the prices will definitely be going up.
Remember Drake’s viral video “Toosie Slide” that dropped at the height of the pandemic in 2020? Well, that incredibly fly camo bomber that Drake is wearing is archive Raf from Fall/Winter 2001. It has also been worn by Kanye and has been considered one of the most coveted pieces made by the designer, most recently selling for over $30K on Grailed.
Despite the news of the end of the self-titled brand, Raf Simons will continue working with Miuccia Prada as co-creative director of Prada. Perhaps this is all just the first step to the designer taking over the reins of the Italian fashion house as Prada’s sole creative director. Who knows. But in the meantime, get those pieces you’ve had your eyes on, like now and always remember, “please don’t touch my Raf.”