Male Accessory, 1991 - Raf Simons
Corpo, Raf Simons’s graduation project, created in 1991 at SHIVKV in Genk, Belgium, consists of seven cabinets, each given a name, much like the individual pieces in a fashion collection. Five of these original pieces are presented by Pulp Galerie.
Like Corset, this piece reflects Raf Simons’s interest in clothing as a structure capable of embracing, constraining or extending the body. However, it differs in its more functional approach, exploring the possibilities of clothing as a storage space and as a means of carrying objects.The removable cover can be detached and used separately as a storage pouch or accessory.
The brown leather covering, with its diamond-quilted surface, evokes the linings of certain men’s jackets. The pockets, zippers and construction details directly reference the vocabulary of utilitarian clothing. Here, leather, a supple and sensual material, covers a rigid structure composed of metal rods and a glass top. This contrast between softness and rigidity, between a textile covering and an industrial framework, constitutes one of the piece’s fundamental principles.
The fastening system, with its metal eyelets and central lacing, recalls that of Corset. This choice is particularly interesting: traditionally associated with the body, its support and its shaping, lacing becomes a structural element of the furniture. It introduces an almost bodily dimension into an object that, at first glance, appears to follow a purely practical logic. The sensuality of the leather and its sartorial references thus counterbalance the rigour of the metal structure and its storage function.
This piece can also be understood as a reflection on the relationship between the body and the object. Clothing allows us to carry, contain and transport; it acts as an extension of the body, an intermediary space between the body and its surroundings. By transposing elements of this vocabulary into furniture, Raf Simons questions and redefines this function: storage is no longer confined to an enclosed volume, but adopts the pockets, fastening systems and covering of a garment. The cabinet thus becomes a kind of garment for objects, a structure that protects and contains while asserting its presence within a space.
Through this 1991 creation, part of his Corpo graduation project, Raf Simons develops an approach to design at the intersection of furniture, clothing and anatomy. Whereas Corset places greater emphasis on the notions of restraint and support, this piece explores the practical capabilities of clothing and its ability to accommodate objects. Both nevertheless share the same tension between functionality and sensuality, between structure and covering, revealing the designer’s early interest in the relationship between the human body and the objects that surround it.
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