September 28, 2017 |
…and at 9.30am or thereabouts this morning, the pilgrimage of Junya people gathered for lessons at the Université Paris Descartes.
The seasonal pop-up Junya Watanabe show – rarely in the same place twice – was a study in house coda: the stripe, the polka dot and camouflage (abstracted). But also in a Marimekko print. All this came in undulating and geodesic shapes; folded in and over and layered and chopped and ruched and gathered and knotted and plaited… to create garments, which although brand new, still looked familiar and “Junya”. The pattern became the cutting pattern on a series of polka dot prints; the dots increasing and decreasing in size throughout the show and dictating the garment. The white dot on black background sprouting out like a fat migraine pill or cut away to be left hanging. Or when it was folded, became a flower, which sat on the front of dresses or was neatly folded into square lines of plaits with the front and reverse of the fabric on show at the same time. Despite the hours and hours and hours of work to create and perfect all this for outstanding results, none of it looked laboured. There was a spring in the models’ step and the music running from Beck’s ‘Heart Is A Drum’ to ‘Chances Are’ by Johnny Mathis, breathed a happy energy into everything.
*the hairs on my arms are standing on end.
