In an expansive new interview with GQ, legendary designer Raf Simons offered his unfiltered thoughts on new school talents ahead of his highly-anticipated men's show in NYC. Specifically, Simons said he isn't inspired or excited by Virgil Abloh's work with Off-White. Well, not yet anyway.
"Not Off-White," Simons toldGQ's Noah Johnson when asked if young designers like Abloh and Vetements' Demna Gvasalia are inspiring to him. "He's a sweet guy. I like him a lot actually. But I'm inspired by people who bring something that I think has not been seen, that is original. It's not always about being new-new because who is new-new?"
Speaking on Demna's work, Simons said he "knows what he is" and is bringing something to fashion that's always desired: youth and rebellion. "But you cannot escape from it," Simons said. "He knows it himself as well. It's been there for many decades at Martin [Margiela]. Oversized hoodies with text prints. It's been there. Now, that's not a critique. At all. I think he's a smart one. And I think there will be things coming up. I don't think you can compare him at all to the guy from Off-White. So I cannot talk about these people in the same way."
After the interview's publication, ASAP Rocky hit Twitter with some words of support for both Simons and Abloh:
Peep the full GQ interview, which also includes Simons' thoughts on the role of art under Trump, right here.
