September 29, 2024 |
Rei Kawakubo doesn’t care what you think of her Comme des Garçons collection. She’s not doing it for you. She’s doing it because her whole life is built around a compulsion to create – to express what’s inside her head. Last season it was anger but for SS25 her mood has changed. The collection, called ‘Uncertain Future’, was about hope. The designer’s statement, delivered (as is the Comme custom) by her husband Adrian Joffe read: “With the state of the world as it is, the future as uncertain as it is, if you put air and transparency into the mix of things, there could be the possibility of hope.”
The cloud-like looks that closed the show expressed that possibility beautifully. Three models glided onto the catwalk wearing vast cumulonimbus creations. It was a heavenly conclusion to an uplifting show. Comme’s is as much about feelings as meanings.
The show began with white corrugated pieces that looked like they’d been dipped in plaster or Copydex glue. The silhouettes are always striking but this show had a playful edge. Empty beanbags of fabric were collaged into vast skirts. Funnel and column-shaped looks in lilac and cream had the texture of wedding cakes or piped patisseries. Some looks had the feeling of renaissance costumes as if pulled from a radical dressing up box. One model wore a giant red brocade cone slit at the front so she could see where she was going. She looked like a walking Christmas present. Another looked like a glittering snow cone festooned with red ribbons. Presents, ice cream, cakes, dressing up? The lighter things in life came to mind. Hope indeed.
Photography courtesy of Christina Fragkou.
