Austrian designer Helmut Lang returns to Vienna with Séance de Travail 1986-2005, a landmark exhibition at the MAK that traces his radical redefinition of fashion, identity, and form. Drawing from MAK Helmut Lang Archive, the show reveals how Lang’s minimalist rigor and conceptual vision continue to shape contemporary culture.
Vienna, December 2025. This winter, The MAK, Museum of Applied Arts, presents the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the Austrian-born designer and artist Helmut Lang, titled SÉANCE DE TRAVAIL 1986-2005 / Excerpts from the MAK Helmut Lang Archive. Opening on December 10, 2025, and running through May 3, 2026, the exhibition offers an unprecedented insight into Lang’s radical vision of design, identity, and artistic experimentation across two decades of transformative work.
“His radical concept remains a source of inspiration and is brought to life in this exhibition with all its intensity,” – Lilli Hollein, general Director, MAK.
Drawing from MAK Helmut Lang Archive, the largest and only official public collection devoted to his legacy, the show revisits the period from Lang’s early years in Vienna through his groundbreaking international career that bridged fashion, architecture, and contemporary art. This archive, donated to the museum by the artist in 2011, comprises over 10,000 items including garments, prototypes, campaign materials, photographs, and rare video footage.
Conceived as an immersive, mixed-media environment, SÉANCE DE TRAVAIL 1986-2005 transcends the conventions of a fashion retrospective. Curated by Marlies Wirth, curator from Digital Culture and MAK Design Collection, the exhibition embodies Lang’s notion of séance de travail, a “work session” marked by continuous experimentation and renewal. The presentation unfolds across themes such as Identity, Space, Media & Cultural Presence, Artist Collaborations, and Backstage, revealing Lang’s oeuvre as both an interconnected system and a cultural statement.
Working between Vienna, Paris, and New York, Helmut Lang revolutionized fashion’s relationship with art, architecture, and media. His minimalist yet emotionally resonant designs challenged glamour and consumerism, favouring authenticity and creative integrity. From his debut at the Centre Pompidou in 1986 to his pioneering online runway show in 1998, Lang consistently anticipated shifts in technology and culture, reshaping not only the fashion calendar but also the way audiences experience design.
Helmut Lang’s Séance de Travail presentations, first staged in 1988, replaced the conventional runway with raw, performative encounters featuring diverse models and friends in industrial spaces such as the Escape Commines in Paris and New York’s Dia Centre for the Arts. For the MAK exhibition, life-size video projections of these performances will be shown in full colour and with original sound for the first time worldwide, transforming the gallery into a dynamic, site-specific installation.
Reconstructed architectural elements from Lang’s flagship stores on Greene Street in New York and Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, originally developed with architect Richard Gluckman, anchor the scenography. Featuring integrated artworks by Jenny Holzer and Louise Bourgeois, these environments blur the boundaries between retail, installation, and sculpture, reflecting Lang’s pursuit of a Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art.
“The scenography is conceived to offer an intuitive understanding of his singular approach and its ongoing resonance in contemporary culture,” – Marlies Wirth, Curator, digital and MAK Design Collection.
Helmut Lang’s enduring collaborations with Holzer and Bourgeois are central to the exhibition narrative. From the 1996 Florence Biennale scent collaboration with Holzer to the conceptual perfume campaign “I SMELL YOU ON MY SKIN…” (2000), Lang transformed advertising into conceptual art. His partnership with Bourgeois spanned installations, sound, and designed, underscoring a deep creative dialogue rarely seen between fashion and fine art.
Lang’s influence also extended to media and communication: his campaigns blurred the line between high and low culture, revealing backstage intimacy and emphasizing transparency long before it became an industry norm.
The MAK Helmut Lang Archive continues to serve as a “living archive”, one that invites reflection, experimentation, and inspiration for future generations. As part of the exhibition, newly restored and unpublished materials across disciplines will be made accessible to public for the first time.
“The MAK archive is meant to be a living archive. I hope it inspires others to have the courage to find their own voice,” – Helmut Lang.
Credits:
Artist: Helmut Lang / @helmutlang
Words: Anna Renova / @renovaanna
