Helmut Lang collaborates with artist Hank Willis Thomas

Helmut Lang has launched a collection in collaboration with American conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas, focusing on his text-based lenticular work ‘It’s All About You / It’s Not About You’.

The limited-edition collection of ready-to-wear includes hoodies, T-shirts and dresses, which read ‘It’s All About You’ or ‘It’s Not About You’ depending on the viewers’ vantage point.

The collection aims to address what the brand is calling a moment in time where we are all being called to examine our own privileges and biases, as the project compels people to think about how their own position literally affects what they see.

To translate the experience of standing in front of Thomas’ lenticular work, the Helmut Lang design team explored several printing and garment techniques to translate the experience, including a lenticular print process, printing on sheer fabric, and a reverse print on the inside of the garment.

“Art has the power to shift people’s perspective,” said Hank Willis Thomas in the press release. “My role as an artist is to wake people up, and I often use language as a tool to do this. I see this collaboration with Helmut Lang as an extension of my artistic practice exploring advertising and the ubiquity of messaging.”

Helmut Lang adds that this is a creative endeavour collaboration rather than a commercial partnership, and as such the artwork and artist are credited directly on the garment.

The Helmut Lang x Hank Willis Thomas collection will donate 15 percent of the sale proceeds to Incarceration Nations Network (INN), a think-tank that concentrates on innovative prison reform efforts around the world.