There aren't many working designers that influence the modern zeitgeist like Raf Simons. His work is a constant source and reference point for today's crop of young designers. There is a sort of reverence that he is regarded in that is spoken and unspoken. Probably because everyone knows that he is THE man but no one wants the discerning eye to draw that parallel. When you look back at his earlier collections one can see that his collections were so visionary that his ideas keep coming back in some form or another these days. This may not have been always the case but that no longer can be denied.
Enter SS17, Raf Simons' current collection is a collaboration with the Mapplethorpe Foundation. We beg you to do the necessary digging if you are not familiar with Robert Mapplethorpe. The press surrounding the collection has been thorough and there is nothing more that can be said that already hasn't been penned. So instead of trying to mince words and regurgitate what's already been said we'll leave you with this Vogue.com interview with Raf himself discussing the SS17 collection.