“Consumed” was the culmination of a two-year treatise which began with AW2001’s "Riot Riot Riot,” and continued through SS2002 “Woe Onto Those Who Spit on the Fear Generation…” and AW2002 “Virginia Creeper.” Over the course of these collections, Raf abandoned his mediations on the upper class in favor of working class angst. Where Raf once employed the visuals of bygone rockstars like a secret handshake, borrowing images of Peter Murphy, Kraftwerk, and such, he instead cobbled mass-media imagery such as Playstation and Jaws into a grim hypothesis about where such monoculture was shepherding society. Consumed visualized the future as a dystopian cityscape in which brands became one’s identity. The clothes were covered with directionless collages of logos, while atop them models added Coke cans and Marlboro packs as accessories. Reduced to anonymous conveyors of capitalism, Simons went as far as to have them marked with faux-tattoos of corporate logos.

In a deeper reading of the work, it further expounds upon themes of philosopher Marshall McLuhan. In his paper “Understanding Media," he famously declared “the medium is the message.” In relation to art, he postulated that creative works could not be regimented into segments, but rather must be digested as an "instant sensory awareness of the whole.” Lending credence to the claim, Consumed, when dissected into parts and symbols, becomes devoid of its meaning and effect. However, as a whole, the collection introduces a harrowing sensory shock.

This blazer was a key piece of the runway presentation, and was one of the more visually understated offerings, despite its layered cargo vest and accompanying zippers.

Condition: 8.5/10. Light wear throughout

Tagged size: 52

Shoulder: 17.5in

Pit to pit: 22.5in

Length: 30in

Sleeve: 29in