Wouldn’t it be lovely if every Sunday could kickstart with a Sacai show? Chitose Abe’s pattern-cutting wizardry never fails to amaze. Yet, her hybrid wonders this time around packed an extra punch. These were clothes you wanted to snatch straight off the catwalk and plonk in your own wardrobe, touring through a variety of garment categories with total ease and experimental bliss.
Michel Gaubert provided one of the week’s most memorable soundtracks, which bounced from Freddie Mercury bellowing “I want to break free” through to a menacing Charli xcx number from the Brat tour before a wholesome bit of Tears for Fears’s Everybody Wants To Rule The World to close things out. The chopping and changing played nicely with the collage of different design ideas. It began with the classic tuxedo, with jackets now sliced and pieced back together in interesting finishes. Then came an outerwear-heavy section including bombers that were elongated into trench coats and cloaked in shaggy fake fur and tweed-on-tweed looks that were plucked at to create an interesting fraying effect that bounced as the models walked.
Running throughout was a gorgeous trouser silhouette that was cut so it looked as if they were overlayed with a skirt in the same fabric. These were particularly effective in the workwear looks that were cut from heavy duty, khaki-coloured canvas. New iterations of the brand’s ongoing Levi’s link-up were up next, followed by a boxing-inspired section including T-shirts adorned with a photograph of Muhammad Ali. Finishing off with a series if quilted showstoppers, it was another stellar outing from Abe, who while flexing her creative muscles never looses sight of clothes needing to be wearable in everyday life.
Photography courtesy of Sacai.
