March 3, 2024 |
“Anger”, read a stark statement from Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garçons. “This collection is about my present state of mind. I have anger against everything in the world, especially against myself.“ For Rei Kawakubo, it’s always personal. The designer creates to fulfil a need in herself, not you. She’s not trying to please you or me. She’s not trying to tell you anything except how it feels for her. It’s that heart-felt, vulnerability, that defiant determination to express emotion and do something new that gives Comme its power.
What does Rei’s anger look like on the runway? Black. Black Leatherette. Jacket shoulders supersized and cantilevered into capes and skirts; a ballooning, bubbling, bulbous PVC jacket: huge flounced flares that give the model a cowboy swagger; a zip trimmed cape that looks like exploded leather jackets; matted 18th century wigs; pattern scraps from the cutting room floor, collaged together the inside and undersides exposed; black baroque swirls in shiny emboss on jacket a tailored jacket worn over a swirling vinyl skirt; oversized chain prints; silver barbed wire painted onto a cape and matching skirt; an all-black panniered gown adorned with cartoonish bows
The models added to the sense of discomfort by confronting the photographers or standing intimidatingly close to random audience members. There was only one white look in the whole show. White, ribbon and lace trimmed cotton bonnets bunched into a caped mound. Feel the fury.
Photography by Christina Fragkou.
