Raf Simons
Closer
Raf Simons
Why it matters
The collaboration with graphic designer Peter Saville — who hand-painted Factory Records album artwork (Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, New Order's Power Corruption & Lies, OMD's Dazzle Ships) onto fishtail anoraks — produced the most coveted garments in post-millennium menswear. Three original parkas sold at Vogue auction for $20,000 each in 2016. The collection formalized the idea that music-archive imagery, applied with craft and curatorial precision, constitutes a new form of luxury.
Defining looks
- 01Fishtail anorak with Joy Division 'Unknown Pleasures' cover (Peter Saville)
- 02Fishtail anorak with New Order 'Power Corruption & Lies' cover
- 03Fishtail anorak with OMD 'Dazzle Ships' cover
- 04Newsboy caps
- 05Shearling jacket with Union Jack on back
What collectors know
Original Saville parkas traded around $20,000 each at a 2016 sale and have appreciated since — the set is now spoken of in the $15,000–$35,000+ range per piece. Condition on the hand-painted graphic is the whole game: the paint cracks and flakes with wear, and a cracked Saville is a materially different object from a clean one. This is the collection where 'check the graphic before the tag' is the rule.
The argument
This is the other half of the eternal Raf argument: Closer vs. Riot. Riot is the cultural earthquake and the price ceiling; Closer is the one collectors who've gone deep tend to name as the finer thing — Saville's Factory Records artwork on a fishtail parka is fashion's first-pressing Unknown Pleasures. The honest read: Riot matters more historically, Closer rewards the longer look. If you only know one, you know Riot. If you know both, you argue for Closer.