George Max Cortes
Helmut Lang Wallet and subsequent campaign on social media

"In this bootleg collaboration, I explore ideas of repurposing, sustainability, bootleg culture, and fake collaboration. I used an approach I believe emulates the ideas and aesthetics of Helmut Lang, while staying true to my own personal values and interests.

Using an old Helmut Lang shopping bag as a form of recycled material along with a layer of clear packing tape, the bag became a classic duct-tape wallet, showing the Helmut Lang logo through each side to keep brand identity. Most bootleg products are made for quantity over quality, and add to the problems fast fashion produces, which produce a vicious cycle of waste. This is why I thought it was important to repurpose old materials, rather than contribute to the problem. To further the sense of a seemingly real collaboration, a series of campaign posters support the wallet. The idea of the hoax campaign and collaboration aims to push the idea of bootleg a step past the product itself, like an authentic product would. I wanted to make an item I would have bought from Helmut Lang, but was never made.

After a decade away from fashion, Helmut Lang has resurfaced to show sculptures made from repurposed material. Lang's archive of past clothing was burned in an office fire and rather than seeing what remained as trash, he found a way to revitalize them. He was able to breathe new life to what was seemingly useless. Taking this idea into my own work, my goal was to elevate the old shopping bag, to give it new purpose, and offer ode to Lang. I wanted to create something I saw as physically and psychologically valuable.."