Two Walter van Beirendonck sweaters
Unlike my prior newsletters, I don’t personally possess either of the two items I’m celebrating here today. Kind of a risky move to share them with you, as I’m basically handing any of my less scrupulous readers the chance to swipe one of them right out from under my nose (or one-up me in my pursuit of the other), but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Just promise to send me a fit pic if you do!
For those uninitiated, Walter van Beirendonck is a Belgian fashion designer, one of the original Antwerp Six (alongside other personal faves Ann Demeulemeester and Dries Van Noten). Over the course of some forty years of designing, his style has wildly evolved, but big bright colors, larger-than-life shapes and a cartoonish embrace of the impossible are all recurring motifs. Among other iconic looks, he’s responsible for this. Plus, while we’re on the subject of bears, he’s unabashedly fashion’s most prominent bear, which finds its way into his collections in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways.
A little less than a decade ago, when I had my very own fashion column for SPIN, I was infatuated with dressing like a goth-ninja from Coruscant who works basement DJ gigs in-between hired assassinations. It was fun trying to turn my midsection into a drop-crotched black hole, and in the height of my pursuits (let’s say 2012), I felt zero connection to the day-glo costumes peddled by Walter van Beirendonck (least of all those pieces emblazoned with his own personal mascot, Puk Puk). And now, for reasons probably more indebted to my ever-shifting subconscious emotional state than I would’ve predicted, I find myself drawn to bold colors and playful design, of which Walter’s body of work is unparalleled.1
If you start Googling Walter van Beirendonck (and I hope you do), you might notice that a lot of the clothes he makes are, to put it one way, pretty terrible. I wouldn’t argue with you over the merits of any given piece - I find at least half of his work to be nothing I’d ever want to put on my body - but those eyesores, from the childlike to the extravagant, are all necessary components in helping enable the extraordinary stuff to bloom. Plus, even the debatably terrible stuff I kinda love, because after all, it doesn’t have to necessarily be for me: I love looking at some of his seasons and imagining the liberated ex-raver professional-cyclist BDSM enthusiasts for whom they seem to be custom-designed.
Anyway, let’s get to the sweaters at hand. The first, and more conceivably-obtainable of the two, comes from Walter’s A/W19 season. Slimy drips featured prominently in this collection, brandished on everything from tight spandex zip-front jackets to cotton lounge pants, but nothing hit me quite like this 87% wool turtleneck. A pink slime / maroon body variation exists as well, and I love that one too, but there’s something about this color combo that has me feeling like a children’s candy bar, like I’d be the first Reese’s Human if I wore it, my peanut butter head erupting from the chocolate shell of my chest. Or maybe I’m a slender scented candle burning through the twilight hours... either way sounds nice, right? I love when Walter keeps things elegant, executing a fine turtleneck with a wacky twist like he does here. Pair this with a tweed blazer and there I am, teaching middle-school science on a Nickelodeon game show in 1992.
I first came across this sweater in person at the great Lower East Side boutique Elkel (a fully-authorized Beirendonck dealer with a great “art-twink spending their sugar daddy’s money" vibe), but couldn’t justify paying retail. I stalked it on Elkel’s site over the next few weeks and considered pulling the trigger at the still-hefty 25% off price before the decision was made for me - they sold out of larges. Since then, I’ve been stalking the Grailed listings to find it, and it finally showed up a few weeks ago, somewhere in Asia, currently down from the initial second-hand asking price of $450 to $327 (presumably inclined to drop even lower if it continues to sit). I sure as hell do not need to be buying turtleneck sweaters in April, but if this work of art dips into the $200s, I cannot be held responsible for my actions.
Here’s the second and more elusive sweater I’d love to slip into. Season unknown, but I’m guessing this arrived sometime in the past ten years or so, though his designs are so ahead of their time and self-referential that I wouldn’t be surprised if it came from the mid 90s (though I’d then question how this particular garment remained in like-new condition for all these years). Again, the aesthetic appeal remains the same for me: execute a simple concept with luxurious materials and unfussy design, but make sure you disturb it with one big eye-catching embellishment. Walter van Beirendonck has been compared to Santa Claus in the past (his body type, large grey beard and jolly demeanor practically insist upon it), and this sweater seems to embrace that connection, with its chunky wool knit and fire-engine shade of red. I can’t think of a sweater that would pair better with a steaming cup of hot cocoa than this, that’s for sure. The Grailed seller described it as “Heavy (!) Wool” (sic) which further excites: what if it weighs a good ten pounds, not counting the two basketballs one might decide to conceal in its marsupial-esque pouch? It sold for a commendable $450 maybe a year ago, and then the same (I’m convinced it’s the exact same) sweater popped up a few months ago on eBay, a $375 listing that had no bites (or sold off the site). Like the first sweater, I certainly don’t need to accumulate multiple pounds’ worth of wool garments at this very moment, but I’m convinced I haven’t seen the last of either of these sweaters anyway. In the world of second-hand fashion, diligent persistence is rewarded, and I fully intend to get into one or both of these sooner or later.
Except probably for Rei Kawakubo, whose work I also cherish, but I’ve gotta stop making art into a competition in the first place. It’s not healthy.