“To break free of the gloomy present, I hope to present a bright and light future,” read Rei Kawakubo’s single-line statement accompanying her SS24 Comme des Garçons show. It’s a simple message that came through in the refreshingly concise collection of 19 body-defying wearable sculptures, each one turbo-charged with a rainbow of colors, and swaddling masses of fabric. Some of them looked like they were constructed from children’s bedspreads, others came with printed collages of Regency-era portraiture resembling camouflage, wrapped up in big bows — perhaps a nod to the cumbersome (and equally restrictive) silhouettes of the eighteenth-century.
Below are five key takeaways from the Paris Fashion Week show.
It was about hope
“Overjoyed” would be the word to describe the display of optimism staged by Rei Kawakubo this season. “To break free of the gloomy present, I hope to present a bright and light future,” she wrote in her traditional one-line statement. In times of despair, a little wilfulness goes a long way. At Comme des Garçons, it spoke literal volumes in a series of mastodon silhouettes insistently bedecked in joyful colours and adornments.
It was hypnotising
Screeching, war cry-like sounds by the American composer Meredith Monk – a little in the vein of the frenzied opening theme of The White Lotus – filled an austere space on the edge of Paris. Here, Kawakubo sent out her giant orbs of colour explosions. She emblazoned her massive structures with floral prints – the season’s serene motif of hope – and tied them into all-over rosettes, creating a sea of texture and colour that had an almost hypnotising effect.
It was full of illusions
Led by Kawakubo’s hopefulness, the collection was like visual therapy. Every motif and technique represented an optical illusion as if meant to implant the brain with a sense of joy. Multi-coloured geometric formations virtually had the same effect as stereograms, repetitive imagery of portrait paintings was wrapped into trippy three-dimensional textures, and lace overlays played tricks on the eye.
It was elating
Towards the end of the show, Kawakubo’s language of joy became more driven by shape than imagery. Her mastodons exploded into candyfloss-like ruffles layered with massive metallic panels, and shimmery fabrics looked like crumbled-up foil magnified to oblivion. From beginning to end, the collection was like a rollercoaster that kept climbing to the top, building with excitement and anticipation.
It came with childlike bob wigs and embellished trainers
The show finished in a resilient finale where the models went into formation in the middle of the runway, blocking the view of the audience. That part was more like a protest: an insistence, perhaps, on Kawakubo’s part for a more joyous environment. Her demonstration of hope was pure, often childlike, as illustrated in the coloured bob wigs of models and in supersized trainers covered in multi-coloured toys and gems.
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