49. Nike x MMW
Technical Shorts
2018
Debuted in 2018 amid a glut of fashion-sportswear crossover collabs, Nike x MMW stood out for its tactical silhouettes, hard-core colorways, and obsessively fine-tuned fits. Worn by a legion of celebrities and models from boutique fitness classes to the streets of Paris during Fashion Week, the collection established 1017 Alyx 9SM designer Matthew Williams as a major creative force, and positioned him to take the reins at a prestigious fashion house, as he did with Givenchy in 2020. —S.H.
50. Helmut Lang
Astro Jacket
Fall-Winter 1999
Helmut Lang’s archive is full of bona fide holy grails. The Astro Jacket came in many iterations—short, long, metallic, with fur or without—and has become an essential piece for any respectable collector. The designer had thousands of pieces in his archive shredded as part of a 2011 art project. Which has made the current craze for his work that much more feverish—and the prices that much more jaw-dropping. —N.J.
A version of this story originally appeared in the March 2022 issue with the title “The 50 Holy Grails of Modern Menswear.”
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PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Photographs by Martin Brown.
Styled by Johnny Machado.
Rick Owens photograph courtesy of Groupie.
Comme des Garçons Homme photograph courtesy of Anthony Petruzzi/Fracture.
Supreme x The North Face, AWGE x Needles, Stüssy photographs courtesy of brands.
Items on loan from: (1) Imprévu Studios; (2) Deep Fryed Archive; (3) Resurrection Vintage; (4) Justin Reed Inc.; (5) eluXive; (7) Imprévu Studios; (8) Lino De Stefano; (9) Archive of Polo Ralph Lauren; (10) Justin Reed Inc.; (11) Nate; (12) Archive of H\\\&M; (13) Rebel_X_Archive; (16) Imprévu Studios; (17) David Casavant Archive; (18) Archive of Marni; (19) Archive of Goyard; (20) Felix Bartlett; (21) Archive of Balenciaga; (22) Rolex; (23) Imprévu Studios; (24) Archive of Dries Van Noten; (25) Akaibu Store; (27) Deep Fryed Archive; (28) Stadium Goods; (30) Nate; (31) Heineken Hoang; (32) Stadium Goods; (33) Lefthand Market; (34) Justin Reed Inc.; (35) Archive of Junya Watanabe; (36) Akaibu Store; (37) Agata Eliseeva; (38) Archive of Off-White; (39) Mark Anthony Green; (40) Kristupas Kapturauskas; (41) Ann Demeulemeester; (42) Deep Fryed Archive; (43) Gucci; (44) Archive of Walter Van Beirendonck; (45) Horror Vacuo; (46) Archive of Prada; (47) Aaron Miller; (48) Old Boy Vintage; (49) Obtaind; (50) David Casavant Archive.
