The basic ingredients of the Mediterranean cuisine become to the Italian designer the best synthesis of a project which choose the brightness of the red colour as a telling of the most light natural textile versions. The linen, the cotton and the silk lead the shade through different levels of movement and expression. The chromatic note assumes on the silk the airy wideness of the twilight sea breeze, while on the linen, always washed and creased, the harshness of the summer heat has been mitigated by the coolest of the fibres and drawn with the naïve signs of a bad managed paint brush on the weft of the basketweave fabric. Again, the red insists on the cotton seersucker in tiny textures, sometimes interrupted by zebra stripes which accompany its dominance or, more discretely, brighten up the joyful floral bouquet of the Londoner liberty.

But the Gregis relaxed language can’t take itself to the extreme only on the crimson, to the initial Paamboli she commits only the concision appropriate to un unforgettable evocation: the summer!

With no hesitation it is colour, joy and fantasy…it is holiday, blue, dazzled white, ecrù or printed as a souvenir on carefree pink jackets.

Daniela Gregis dress with top bodice in plain coloured cotton, skirt in cotton patchwork and garment washed linen, different dark tones, full shoulder with 3/4 sleeves and internal split, 2 pockets, eyelets at the sides for drapery hem, doubled over and reversible.

Flip-flop Trippen sandal with classic large sole, cowhide metallic leather strings drawing an open V on the instep, band around the ankle with velcro closure, rubber contour sole.

Stainless steel La Molla necklace.

Daniela Gregis longuette dress in linen and cotton, cotton singlet bodice with boat neckline, wide pleated skirt in linen, side pockets, raw cut two-colour seams.

Daniela Gregis slightly tapered jacket in cotton liberty with “travel” print, garment washed, single breasted, collar with small lapel, closure with one fabric cufflink button, 2 pockets sewn onto hemline, one central split on the back.

Trippen sandal with large sole, cowhide leather side edge and cotton string crossing all the instep, string closure around the ankle, rubber contour sole.

Daniela Gregis linen singlet top with thin straps, flat and fitted at the top, 2 closed splits folding outwards on the sides, in linen.

Daniela Gregis wide leg psychedelic polygon painted cotton seersucker trousers, turn-up in the end, side pockets, coulisse closure with string-

Daniela Gregis short jacket in washed and chequered cotton, one breast with small lapel, closure with large safety pin, sleeves above wrist with internal split, straight cut, one pocket sewn onto breast and two side pockets along the hemline.

Daniela Gregis medium multicoloured bag in hand-worked cotton and hemp, flattened at the bottom basket shape, double scoubidou handle rum from side to side, it can be worn as a shoulder bag, rounded bottom, h 18 cm, w 17 cm, bottom diameter 36 cm.

Trippen sandal with large sole, cowhide leather side edge and cotton string crossing all the instep, string closure around the ankle, rubber contour sole.

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.

Gallery