A Word (or Two) From Junya
By
Cathy Horyn
Yesterday, I hung out for a good portion of the day at Comme des Garcons, talking to folks. Despite the impression of surprise and playfulness left by the Comme des Garcons shops, which are designed by Rei Kawakubo and Toshiaki Oshiba (a collaboration that goes back more than 30 years), the headquarters are a no-frills, no-nonsense workspace: cutting tables, mannequins, offices, what you might expect. Tao Kurihara is warm, thoughtful, slightly impish and easy to talk to. She is no pushover, I felt. Tao giggled with something like alarm when I casually asked what she’s planning for her fall show. Such information is a secret at Comme des Garcons; nobody knows what the different studios are working on until their respective shows, in Paris, and everybody at CdG respects that.
I loved my chat with Junya Watanabe. Junya is someone with a strong sense of character—that’s evident when you talk to him—and a good sense of humor. Of course, as many people in the fashion world know, Junya is also a man of few words. You have to tug and persist and avoid questions that can be answered with a yes or a no, though he will frequently answer that way. We had a productive conversation about Comme des Garcons and other matters and then as we were winding up, Junya smiled and said, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Fire away,” I said.
Junya wanted to know, in essence, how a critic views a designer’s clothes—not just his but any designer’s clothes. He asked if I was guided by personal taste, and I said no or rarely. I explained that I looked at each designer differently, based on their objectives and audience. I told him I consider their work over the long term; after all, great designers sometimes have bad shows. I told him that I consider what else might be going on in a house to influence a designer’s choices that season—commercial pressures, for instance. I think that’s reasonable and fair. After all, one of the problems that we all face in life is a lack of information—sometimes we might make a better decision if we just had a little more information. That’s just as true for fashion collections as it is for relationships. I mentioned the blog and I said that there is clearly a preference to discuss the fashion leaders—the real designers—and not the celebrity hunters, etc. Junya seemed surprised that I held different designers to different standards.
Shouldn’t you treat them all the same, he asked.
I said, no, not at all, pointing that Junya holds himself to a pretty high creative standard. Not every designer struggles to come up with something new and technically innovative.
He was so talkative. It was fun. Then he asked me if I thought creativity was important in fashion.
Maybe Junya felt that the world cared less and less for creative design, maybe he was working on something particular in his studio and didn’t yet have the answer. I don’t know. I just told him what I thought. I said, “I think it’s the most important thing of all.” He drew his head back and a smile rapidly appeared on his face. I said I’d see him in Paris.
everytime. I believe this group of designers all carry that design aspect forward. 
but what thoughtful answers she uttered herself! completely agree with her answer about the critic's view. one hopes we all do that in some way.
