Raf Simons (born January 12, 1968) is a belgian fashion designer. He studied Industrial Design but after a few years of self-study, he became a menswear designer in 1995. Initially, he worked with Walter Van Beirendonk in Paris where he was exposed to the work of Martin Margiela and Jean paul Gaultier.
Inspired by uniforms of English Schools, movies and today's headlines, Raf Simons was the first designer in the 1990s to give menswear a new graphic pencil-slim silhoutte.
A favorite among the youth, he has a cult following and considered iconoclastic.
An inventive designer, Raf Simons gets his inspirations from world headlines and creates an inspiring collection based on those.
His collections (menswear only) are strongly influenced by youth culture albeit in an indirect way. He often combines strongly cut classic menswear with baggy streetwear-influenced items. Simons' style has been described as highly influential. He is cited as being one of the most important innovators in contemporary menswear by the international press