Comme des Garcons Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

It was a beautiful and scary collection Comme des Garcons presented today. Skulls were everywhere: at the back of the model’s head, but mainly as an Escher-like print at skirts, shirts, suits. In black and white and – ha ha, very funny – with glasses in contrasting blue or covered by flowers you’ll find on a graveyard.

What was the deeper meaning of this collection? The only explanation designer Rei Kawakubo gave was ‘ Skull of Life’. Yeah, right. I mean, Alexander McQueen did it a long time ago and even recently at his last menswearcollection. He even made skulls of flowers. And this CdG-collection didn’t seem as an homage to the British designer. He never used it so ubiquitously.

Checkered flag-prints accentuated the punkisch vibe of the collection. The clothes were kept simple: blazers, cropped trousers, shirts and full skirts. No, I think Kawakubo just don’t want us to be afraid of skulls, she wants us to embrace them. From now on skulls are no longer meant for hard rockers, goths or whatever dark subculture.

Comme des Garcons Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Again the female body and fashion’s obsessions with it triggered Rei Kawakubo to create her fall winter collection for Comme des Garcons. And again, like in her spring 1997 collection, she aded bulk and heft to all the places fashion avoids if it seeks to flatter and make sexy.

Humps and bumps were placed on shoulders, hips, backs and bodices. Kawakubo used pillowform outcrops of padding which she added to the clothes – coats, jackets, pants, skirts, dresses – and therefor completely changed the silhouette. This was a show that discussed the rules of beauty, ‘Inside Decoration’ was the description the designer gave in her press release. It’s probably the beauty within that makes her ugly clothes shine and elegant.

But you’ll never know with Kawakubo, the only thing you know for sure is that she keeps on tickling you and you fashion-expectations over and over again.

Paris Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Comme des Garcons

The first models that came on the runway at the Comme des Garcons fashion show wore corduroy outfits and hoodies with fur, which covered a big part of their faces.

Then a few printed suits, mixed with shirts and matching waistcoats came by.  At the back of some jackets the shoulders and waists were accentuated by black contours.

The Comme des Garcons trend for fall seemed to be layering. Many outfits had two pairs of trousers, worn on top of each other. One of them was long, the other shorter and much wider.

Long cardigans were worn under some jackets as well. Even a fur coat was visible from under a small jacket.

Apart from a pair of bright pink socks and shoes the collection’s colors were very modest (and masculine).

Trends ss2010: shoulders up!

A few seasons on the runway shoulderpads now definitely hit the stores. While the crowd is taking over this trend, great designers are exaggerating their focus on shoulders and having fun with it. Their pointy or extremely round shoulders are lifted, thickened, adorned and made visible through transparent fabrics. At Balmain’s show the shoulders were still the main aspect of the collection. For 2010 Christophe Decarnin added some fringes on his military jackets for Balmain. The shoulders at the Comme des Garcons show were purposely put in all the wrong places (at the models’ breasts or backs). The brand thus made fun of the whole shoulderpad-trend. The actual shoulderpads were visible through the sheer designs of Jean Paul Gaultier, Viktor & Rolf and Sonia Rykiel. What type of shoulder will they come up with next season? (Tess van Daelen)

Comme des Garcons Catwalk Fashion Show ss2010

For her SS2010 collection Rei Kawakubo designed perfect shoulders on her outfits. Except, they were all in the wrong places (around the breast or the upper arm). She also made leather shoulder braces, worn on top of some outfits. Could it be that she wanted to express some criticism towards the focus on shoulder-pads in many present-day collections? The models had colorful cotton candy hair and wore flat shoes. Their clothes had some sports references: tight cycle-pants were worn over black leggings. A lot of fabrics were interestingly mixed, from chiffon to leather to velvet. They came together in patchworked dresses. These dresses seemed somewhat Victorian influenced in the way they were shaped, fitted, draped and dragged. Throughout the whole collection Kawakubo brought back military influences and shades of nude. In this way she seemed to be reminding the public that she was one of the first designers to come up with these trends. (Tess van Daelen)

Comme des Garçons Catwalk Fashion Show FW09

Comme des Garçons Homme Plus Catwalk Fashion Show Menswear FW09

Comme Des Garcons Catwalk Fashion Show SS09

Comme des Garcons Homme Plus Catwalk Fashion Show Menswear SS09

Comme des Garcons Catwalk Fashion Show FW08

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