“In order to find a new world we have to go beyond reality,” said Rei Kawakubo of her latest Comme des Garçons Homme Plus collection, which from the audience often felt like we were witnessing a glitch in the vortex. School boy shorts sprouted with strands of neon green hair; green leaves stuck to long-lined T-shirts; classic derbies came double-footed and tailored jackets were warped and worn back-to-front. Kawakubo is a maestro in the art of pushing clothes to otherworldly realms. What was special about this collection, though, was that its outlandishness was grounded in seriously wearable garb. Tailoring was sublime, often left open at the back like a theatre curtain (actual theatre curtains appeared across trompe l’oeil tops, too). Check twinsets came littered with childlike prints of palm trees and dolphins and sleeveless jackets were accented with padded shoulder pads. You could say Kawakubo was dressing life in the upside down.
Photography courtesy of Comme des Garçons.
