IVO MILAN – Radical Fashion Blog

Think, put together then unmake and put together again, experimenting volumes and fabrics that must always be closely examined because nothing is as it appears, everything is something different.

This seems to be the inspiration behind Rei Kawakubo’s new collection which, as usual, does not simply propose new trends for the current season, but complex creative works. The clothes are not presented for what they are, definite and completed items ready to be worn, but are rather abstract patterns to be repeated, superimposed, reversed and matched.

Skirts, shirts, jackets or waistcoats, every item of clothing is a sort of replicant that cannot be got rid of, that takes form and emerges from anywhere. The edge of a lapel, the stitching of a shoulder, the bottom of a skirt or of a pullover, the back of a dress are all possible places where another element can be put.

Comme des Garçons performs a sort of metalanguage of fashion, where the analysis and description of the process of the mind, which leads to concrete production, are revealed and suggested. Such an operation, that might have potentially obsessive and inflated results, is incredibly able to make up a poetic entirety that is generally harmonious, despite the centrality of asymmetrical lines.

Thanks to masterly tailoring and aesthetic skills, the imbalance of colours and volumes is translated into balanced solutions, whilst the urge to exceed is diluted by more severe pieces, where the creativity of the designer is shown by the fabric processing, for example the cotton that looks like skin.

This collection requires time and attention to detail, because, as we have already mentioned, nothing is as it seems.

Many pieces offer the possibility of being worn in different versions, thus enormously increasing the number of items of clothing.

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