Lang only decided to move into fashion after he failed to find the perfect jacket and T-shirt in the shops and was forced to make his own. Helmut Lang is a cult figure and, despite leaving fashion in 2005, his legacy lives on. Having shown on the Paris catwalk once, Helmut Lang returned to Vienna until 1997, when he finally moved to New York. Austerity and cerebral couture have characterised his work throughout. He was one of the first designers to embrace the internet and, in 1998, broadcast his new show on it. Prada bought a 49 per cent stake in the Helmut Lang business in 1999. Unhappy without 100 per cent creative control, Lang walked out five years later. Since then the brand has carried on without him.