Vetements
A Swiss-French luxury fashion house and design collective recognized for oversized silhouettes, deconstruction, street references, and collaborations with established heritage brands.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Vetements, stylised as VETEMENTS, is a Swiss-French luxury fashion house and design collective founded in 2014 by Georgian fashion designers Demna Gvasalia and Guram Gvasalia. The name derives from the French word for clothing. From its earliest collections, the label positioned itself against conventional luxury-fashion presentation and design codes, using exaggerated proportions, familiar everyday garments, prominent graphics, subcultural references, and deliberately unconventional styling. Its work has commonly been associated with oversized hoodies, logo-led T-shirts, reconstructed denim, outerwear, footwear, and accessories. The brand presented its first collection during the autumn/winter 2014–15 season in a Paris gallery. Its second collection, for spring/summer 2015, became its first formal fashion show and was held at Espace Pierre Cardin. Vetements subsequently built its profile through shows staged in unexpected or symbolically charged locations rather than relying exclusively on conventional runway venues. These included a Paris sex club, a Belleville restaurant, the American Cathedral of Paris, Galeries Lafayette, the Centre Georges Pompidou, and the Marché Paul Bert Serpette antique markets in Saint-Ouen. The settings reinforced the label’s interest in challenging established distinctions between luxury fashion, popular culture, commerce, and everyday urban life. Vetements gained near-immediate attention in the international fashion industry. Its early success coincided with Demna Gvasalia’s appointment as creative director of Balenciaga after three Vetements collections. He continued to be associated with the label until leaving in 2019. Guram Gvasalia became the brand’s current creative director according to the cited reference material. The label later moved its headquarters to Zurich, a change reflected in the presentation of its spring/summer 2018 collection and in the use of the city as a central setting for its visual and conceptual work. A defining moment in Vetements’ expansion of its collaborative model came with the spring/summer 2017 presentation. The collection was shown during the first evening of Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week at Galeries Lafayette and involved 17 heritage brands, including Brioni and Juicy Couture. Rather than treating collaboration as a limited promotional device, the show presented the participating companies as representatives of different areas of manufacturing and market history. This approach became part of Vetements’ broader identity: it combined luxury-fashion visibility with references to uniforms, workwear, popular logos, mass-market clothing, and established brand archives. Vetements’ spring/summer 2018 project was presented as a “NO SHOW,” replacing a conventional runway with a concert and an exhibition of photographs taken by Demna Gvasalia during a shoot in Zurich. The autumn/winter 2018–19 collection returned to a runway format outside Paris’s official fashion calendar, at the Saint-Ouen antique markets. The tenth collection, for spring/summer 2019, addressed the Gvasalia brothers’ upbringing in Georgia and their eventual departure from the country. Presented beneath the Boulevard Périphérique in Paris, it used street-cast models, including people brought from Georgia, to connect the collection with personal history and displacement. Vetements is best understood as a high-end fashion brand whose value proposition rests on cultural provocation, recognizable visual codes, unusual presentation formats, and the recontextualization of familiar garments. The brand has also faced criticism concerning reported workplace conduct, including allegations of verbal violence, threats, camera surveillance, and extreme working hours, with criticism specifically directed at Guram Gvasalia. The cited reference does not provide sufficient detail to establish the outcome of those allegations. Current ownership, financial performance, listing information, and detailed distribution structure are not established in the supplied sources.
History
Vetements began in 2014 as a Swiss-French luxury fashion house and design collective founded by Georgian designers Demna Gvasalia and Guram Gvasalia. The label’s name comes from the French word for clothing. From the outset, its identity was tied to a rejection of predictable luxury-fashion conventions: the designers used amplified proportions, reconstructed garments, streetwear references, conspicuous logos, and familiar commercial or uniform-like clothing as material for high-fashion design. The first Vetements collection was presented in a Paris gallery for the autumn/winter 2014–15 season. The following spring/summer 2015 collection was the label’s first formal show and took place at Espace Pierre Cardin. Its third collection, for autumn/winter 2015–16, was presented at Le Dépôt, a Paris sex club. The spring/summer 2016 show was held at Le Président Restaurant in Belleville on 1 October 2015. These venues helped establish a method in which the setting formed part of the collection’s message, placing the brand’s work in environments associated with nightlife, ordinary urban life, commerce, or popular culture rather than relying only on traditional fashion venues. Vetements’ international profile grew rapidly. After only three collections, Demna Gvasalia was hired by Balenciaga. He continued to participate in Vetements until leaving the brand in 2019. Guram Gvasalia subsequently remained the label’s principal creative figure and is identified in the cited reference as its current creative director. The autumn/winter 2016–17 presentation took place at the American Cathedral of Paris on Avenue George V. For spring/summer 2017, Vetements was invited to show during the opening evening of Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. The presentation was held during store hours beneath the cupola of Galeries Lafayette and featured work involving 17 heritage brands, among them Brioni and Juicy Couture. The project illustrated Vetements’ interest in combining its own disruptive design language with the technical histories and recognizable identities of established companies. The autumn/winter 2017–18 collection was shown at the Centre Georges Pompidou on 24 January 2017. For spring/summer 2018, the brand announced a “NO SHOW” format rather than a conventional runway. The event combined a concert with an exhibition of photographs made by Demna Gvasalia during a shoot in Zurich, Switzerland. The project also reflected the company’s move of its headquarters to Zurich. Vetements returned to a runway for autumn/winter 2018–19, but presented outside Paris Fashion Week’s official calendar at the Marché Paul Bert Serpette antique markets in Saint-Ouen. The spring/summer 2019 collection was Vetements’ tenth collection. Presented in Paris on 1 July 2018 beneath the Boulevard Périphérique, it drew on the Gvasalia brothers’ upbringing in Georgia and their departure from a country affected by war. Street-cast models, including participants flown from Georgia, connected the presentation to the designers’ personal background and the collection’s themes of memory, migration, and identity. Across these stages, Vetements developed a recognizable position between luxury fashion and street culture. Its products have included apparel, accessories, footwear, hoodies, T-shirts, denim, and outerwear, with design emphasis frequently placed on scale, graphic communication, deconstruction, and the transformation of ordinary garments into highly visible fashion objects. The label has also been criticized over reported workplace conditions, including allegations of verbal violence, threats, camera surveillance, and extreme working hours. The criticism was directed particularly at Guram Gvasalia; the available reference does not document a conclusive legal judgment or subsequent resolution.
- 2019
Demna Gvasalia leaves the brand
[1]Demna Gvasalia exits Vetements, while Guram Gvasalia continues as the brand’s creative director.
- 2018
Tenth collection reflects Georgian background
[1]The spring/summer 2019 collection is presented beneath the Boulevard Périphérique and draws on the Gvasalia brothers’ upbringing in Georgia and departure from the country.
- 2017
Centre Pompidou show
[1]The autumn/winter 2017–18 collection is shown at the Centre Georges Pompidou on 24 January.
- 2017
Zurich headquarters move and NO SHOW format
[1]For spring/summer 2018, Vetements combines a concert and a photographic exhibition in a non-runway “NO SHOW” connected with its move to Zurich.
- 2016
Demna Gvasalia joins Balenciaga
[1]After three Vetements collections, Demna Gvasalia is hired by Balenciaga while remaining associated with Vetements until 2019.
- 2016
American Cathedral presentation
[1]The autumn/winter 2016–17 collection is shown at the American Cathedral of Paris.
- 2016
Seventeen-brand collaboration presentation
[1]The spring/summer 2017 collection is presented at Galeries Lafayette with 17 heritage brands, including Brioni and Juicy Couture.
- 2015
First formal fashion show
[1]Vetements presents its spring/summer 2015 collection at Espace Pierre Cardin, its first formal runway show.
- 2015
Unconventional Paris venues become part of the brand language
[1]The autumn/winter 2015–16 and spring/summer 2016 presentations take place at Le Dépôt and Le Président Restaurant respectively.
- 2014
Vetements is founded
[1]Demna Gvasalia and Guram Gvasalia establish Vetements as a Swiss-French luxury fashion house and design collective.
Products and positioning
High-end street-oriented fashion that challenges conventional luxury-brand presentation through deconstruction, exaggerated proportions, recognizable everyday references, provocative graphics, and cross-brand collaboration.
Fashion apparel · 2014
Apparel
Vetements’ apparel range is associated with oversized and deliberately altered proportions, strong graphic treatments, visible branding, and references to everyday clothing. The label’s design language often transforms familiar garments into luxury-fashion statements through unusual cuts, layering, exaggerated volume, and provocative or culturally specific imagery.
Knitwear and jersey
Hoodies and sweatshirts
Hoodies and sweatshirts are among the silhouettes most closely associated with Vetements. They typically function as large-format graphic or logo garments, using oversized fits and conspicuous visual communication to connect casual sportswear and streetwear with high-fashion pricing and presentation.
Jersey apparel
T-shirts
The brand’s T-shirts extend its use of slogans, logos, cultural references, and familiar commercial imagery. Their importance lies less in technical complexity than in Vetements’ ability to make an ordinary wardrobe staple function as a recognizable luxury-fashion object.
Denim
Deconstructed denim
Denim is used as a basis for reconstruction and proportion changes, including unconventional cuts, layered construction, and visibly altered details. The category reflects Vetements’ broader practice of treating common garments as raw material for experimentation rather than preserving conventional tailoring rules.
Outerwear
Outerwear
Vetements outerwear emphasizes volume, recognizable utilitarian references, and dramatic styling. Jackets and coats contribute to the label’s visual identity by extending its interest in uniforms, workwear, street clothing, and the deliberate exaggeration of familiar wardrobe forms.
Footwear and accessories
Footwear and accessories
Footwear and accessories broaden Vetements’ design language beyond apparel. These products use the same general principles of prominent branding, unconventional styling, and the reworking of recognizable fashion or everyday references within a luxury context.
Controversies
2021
Vetements criticized over collection referencing Hong Kong protests
Vetements drew criticism for pieces in its autumn/winter collection featuring a blue spray effect that its chief executive said referenced Hong Kong protests and police use of blue dye. Diet Prada questioned the label's use of the effect and called the reference inappropriate.
Criticism of reported workplace conditions
Vetements received criticism over reported working conditions, including allegations of verbal violence, threats, camera surveillance, and extreme working hours. The criticism specifically targeted Guram Gvasalia. The supplied source does not establish a definitive legal finding or documented resolution.
Marketing campaigns
- 2017Seventeen heritage-brand collaboration presentation
International fashion market · France
For spring/summer 2017, Vetements presented a collection at Galeries Lafayette during Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week in collaboration with 17 heritage brands, including Brioni and Juicy Couture. The format positioned the participating companies as contributors representing distinct areas of fashion and manufacturing expertise.
Outcome. Expanded the brand’s collaborative identity and reinforced its visibility within the international luxury-fashion system.
- 2017NO SHOW
Switzerland · International fashion market
The spring/summer 2018 project replaced a standard runway with a concert and an exhibition of photographs taken by Demna Gvasalia during a Zurich shoot. The format accompanied the brand’s move of its headquarters to Zurich.
Outcome. Presented Vetements as a label willing to replace conventional runway rituals with hybrid cultural events.
Brand decisions
2019
Demna Gvasalia departs VetementsOtherBackground
Demna Gvasalia had become an internationally prominent designer after joining Balenciaga while continuing to be associated with Vetements.
Action taken
He left Vetements in 2019, leaving Guram Gvasalia as the brand’s identified current creative director.
Aftermath
The departure marked a change in the label’s creative leadership while preserving the Gvasalia family’s continuing connection to the brand.
2018
Present the tenth collection through personal and national historyStrategyBackground
The Gvasalia brothers’ upbringing in Georgia and departure from the country became a central reference for the spring/summer 2019 collection.
Action taken
Vetements staged the Paris presentation beneath the Boulevard Périphérique and used street-cast models, including people brought from Georgia.
Aftermath
The show connected the label’s street-oriented casting and presentation style with the founders’ personal history and themes of displacement.
2017
Replace a conventional runway with a NO SHOWStrategyBackground
The brand was developing a closer relationship with Zurich after moving its headquarters there and continued to question standard fashion-week presentation formats.
Action taken
Vetements launched its spring/summer 2018 collection through a concert and photographic exhibition rather than a conventional runway.
Aftermath
The event reinforced the label’s use of hybrid cultural formats and Zurich as part of its brand narrative.
2016
Expand the collaborative presentation modelStrategyBackground
Vetements sought to connect its disruptive fashion identity with the histories and technical expertise of established heritage brands.
Action taken
The spring/summer 2017 presentation brought together 17 brands, including Brioni and Juicy Couture, in a Galeries Lafayette show during Haute Couture Fashion Week.
Aftermath
The presentation strengthened Vetements’ reputation for cross-brand collaboration and for challenging conventional distinctions between luxury, popular culture, and commerce.
Recent events
Reported
Vetements criticized over collection referencing Hong Kong protests[3]
Vetements drew criticism for pieces in its autumn/winter collection featuring a blue spray effect that its chief executive said referenced Hong Kong protests and police use of blue dye. Diet Prada questioned the label's use of the effect and called the reference inappropriate.
- Unconfirmed
Reported
Vetements launches @vetements_uncensored[4]
Vetements launched a private Instagram account, @vetements_uncensored, which began accepting follower requests the week before publication.
Sources4 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/vetements · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled