Minimalism as attitude, fashion as intellectual practice — with Helmut Lang. Séance de Travail 1986–2005, the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts presents an exhibition that goes far beyond a classic fashion retrospective. On view since December 2025, the show offers an in-depth exploration of one of the most influential Austrian designers and his lasting impact on fashion, art, and contemporary culture.
Rather than following a chronological narrative, the exhibition unfolds as a conceptual work in itself — an immersive encounter with Helmut Lang’s way of thinking, designing, and questioning systems of clothing, identity, and representation.
Fashion as Process, Not Product
Based on the extensive Helmut Lang Archive, which the designer donated to the MAK in 2011, the exhibition focuses on the years 1986 to 2005 — the period in which Lang fundamentally reshaped international fashion. Garments, textiles, patterns, photographs, show invitations, advertising campaigns, and audiovisual materials are presented as fragments of an ongoing creative process.
The title Séance de Travail — French for “working session” — perfectly captures the spirit of the exhibition. Visitors are invited to step into Lang’s studio mindset, where fashion is understood not as seasonal spectacle, but as research, reduction, and resistance.
Curated with a strong emphasis on context, the exhibition highlights Lang’s pioneering approach to:
- minimalist silhouettes with radical precision
- experimental materials and construction techniques
- early digital strategies in fashion communication
- the deconstruction of luxury codes in the 1990s
Why Helmut Lang Still Matters
- how clothes relate to the body
- how fashion operates within political and social systems
- how designers can position themselves critically within capitalism
The MAK exhibition makes clear that Lang’s influence extends far beyond fashion. His aesthetic language shaped visual culture, contemporary art, and the way fashion communicates meaning today.
About Helmut Lang
Helmut Lang (born 1956 in Vienna) is an Austrian fashion designer and artist whose work redefined modern minimalism. He launched his label in the late 1970s and gained international recognition from the mid-1980s onward.
Celebrated for his intellectual rigor, clean lines, and conceptual clarity, Lang became one of the most influential figures in 1990s fashion. He was among the first designers to experiment with online fashion shows and radically reduced branding, positioning fashion as a form of cultural critique rather than pure commerce.
In 2005, Lang withdrew from the fashion industry to focus exclusively on visual art, working in sculpture, installation, and architecture. His artistic practice continues the same principles that defined his fashion work: reduction, tension, and material intelligence.
A Must-See Exhibition in Vienna
Helmut Lang. Séance de Travail 1986–2005 is on view at the MAK Vienna until May 3, 2026. For anyone interested in the intersection of fashion, art, and mindful design, this exhibition is an essential cultural moment — quiet, radical, and profoundly relevant.
