Raf Simons St. John’s Highschool Raglan Sleeve Navy Blue Crewneck 1997 Autumn/Winter
The collection taking once-prep school designs and altering shape and silhouette to filter the schoolboy uniform through new wave and punk music. Simons understood that kids would alter their uniforms to fit their personal style, and like Angus Young and AC/DC in the ‘70s, this was just the latest iteration of music’s role in youthful rebellion. Simons’ early aesthetic incorporated youth culture from divergent sources, such as the Spring-Summer 2000 collection taking inspiration from both MENSA students and the Gabba youth subculture (a predominantly Dutch and Belgian movement associated with hardcore techno music).

Music has formed an integral part of Simons’ work, with references to musical figures such as the Manic Street Preachers’s Richey Edwards and Joy Division’s Ian Curtis and his Fall-Winter 1998 collection featuring members of German electro band Kraftwerk as models.