It can be hard to get into Rei Kawakubo’s mind. Comme des Garçons is for the advanced fashion mfers of the world – and even then, you can only guess what was going on in Rei’s brain when designing her collections. After all, she’s not much of a yapper. She prefers to show, not tell.
For Comme des Garçons Homme Plus’s last season, Kawakubo came with cavalry coats, flower headgear and an overall optimistic attitude. But fall/winter collections tend to be a bit more moody, more gritty, more utilitarian. For FW25, CDG Homme Plus showed up with military-inspired silhouettes, something that its designer has often incorporated into previous collections. But this time round, it wasn’t exactly for utility purposes.
Almost 10 years ago, for FW16, Kawakubo presented a collection that explored the concept of war, playing with battle silhouettes and juxtaposing them with floral headpieces and bouquets of flowers that symbolised peace offerings, a presentation reflecting the struggles of the time.
FW25 felt like a sequel. Masculine, subverted Japanese military uniforms, balloon pants, distorted combat boots with the toes upturned, khakis, and dark neutrals clashed with feminine long, braided hair under draped helmets, and helmets with organza and flower detailing – hinting to an anti-war statement. Kawakubo took archetypical menswear fabrics and motifs, such as military gear and pinstripe suits, and subverted them – either by deconstructing and draping them into a more feminine silhouette with cinched waists, skirts and exaggerated sleeves, or by adding floral prints.
In a political and global climate when fashion can lose its relevance, designers take to their art, letting the clothes speak for themselves. The bright, escapist colour-blocking techniques that emerged towards the middle of the show gave a small sense of hope, but the collection quickly returned to its military-shaded foundations, distorted suiting and asymmetrical tartan draped skirts that challenged the male silhouette. Final looks brought back with blocks of bright shades of orange and red clashing with military green in dresses – the last look, blood-red with flowers on its helmet, a sign of mourning. FW25 is a “f*ck war” stance, a defeated attempt of escapism out of our current gritty reality, a cry to surrender.
Featured images Comme Des Garçons©
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