Comme des Garçons F/W 14.15 Paris

[gazebo]

style.com

 

[gazebo]

style.com

 

[Deleted member 119799]

just amazing

 

[softgrey]

no...just no...

maybe if i saw this in a gallery i'd be more open to it...
but this has no place on a commercial catwalk...
rei- two seasons in a row with no clothes!!!
blah

 

[margielamike2004]

Just when I assumed that Rei Kawakubo would be exhausted or at a loss for more original ideas...she blows my socks off, again....LOL.

I definitely like what she's presenting on the runway......and exploring in her mind...but I will agree that too much from this collection is truly un-wearable....not practical....or comprehensive to actually wear.

Her creative process is boundless.....but does anybody truly want to wear any of this...while being taken seriously??

It's too much like wearing a costume...than actual clothes.

I think it's just a matter of personal taste in regards to what people want to wear and how they like to present themselves when getting dressed.

I do like some of the more "subtle" pieces. The pieces that are a bit more wearable.

At the sight of the first presentation....it reminded me of Martin Margiela's very early "oversized" collections from the 90's.

 

[margielamike2004]

The shoes and boots with the over-sized eyelets....and multiple buckle-straps...are spectacular.....I love them.....but I can't base my fondness or criticism for a collection based merely upon the shoes.

I wish the clothing would have been just as desirable.

 

[Scott]

am i the only that feels that this looks kind of like an amalgam of past collections? i see the lumps and bumps….oversized(which she actually has done in the 80's as well as the 90's with the elongated sleeves)…..tutus….and of course all the inflatable stuff she did last season. but it all does seem a bit unrealistic or unadaptable even for rei's usual prowess. she does usually present things you can imagine being worn.

i'm in agreement…i wish even in rei's boundless mind she would go back to incorporating her ideas into real clothes. no in a purely not commerce driven manner but as i said more realistic.

 

[gossiping]

this is the reason why i don't get into paris as much as others..it is not my thing at all. i'll take wearable nyfw all day long

 

[Phuel]

I admire her for sending out another collection of totally unwearable pieces... again. The S/S one was juvenile to me, but this one is CdG at it's most extreme, but relatable. Maybe it's because of all the cozy, earthy colors, textures and mashed-up classic (CdG) menswear vibes.

I don't know if this is her intention, but for these last 2 presentations, it's as if she's reminding us that we have enough clothes, and that we too, can put these looks together: Just gather up all your past CdG boiled-wool cardigans and wound it around yourself until you look like a ball of yarn-- and there you go: CdG A/W 2014...

(I know this is just a show, and that the CdG shops will be stocked with new clothes soon enough, but I still admire what she's doing for her presentations here.)

 

[margielamike2004]

I agree with the majority of you....and I can also see something like a retrospective story being told. Reminders of prior collections that Rei Kawakubo has presented in the past.

I wish she would find a balance to what she's doing. Something that is considerably unusual, but actually wearable....but not something so vapidly boring as what I see from too many NYC fashion designers.

 

[margielamike2004]

Runway Review from Women's Wear Daily (WWD)

"Oh, that Rei! Backstage, where everyone runs post-show to get her seasonal deep-thought words (or in this case, word) to grasp on to, she offered the frightful, “Monster.” To wit, Kawakubo’s green-lipped models plodded by ominously trance-like, arms bound and faces sometimes obscured, encased in piles, piles and more piles of thick, undulating padded knits (and the occasional ill-fitting but natty Prince of Wales check), their bodies mere foundation for lumpy, bumpy, misshapen masses of woolen darkness and multiple sleeves. In show notes, Kawakubo shed a little more light on the motif. “It’s not about the typical monster you find in science-fiction and video games,” she wrote. “The craziness of humanity, the fear we all have, the feeling of going beyond common sense, the absence of ordinariness, expressed by something extremely big, by something that could be ugly or beautiful.”

Genuinely deep thoughts, realized to perfection: crazy — check. Beyond common sense — check. Absence of ordinariness — double-check, and hundreds of shows into the season, Godspeed. Not, by the way, that anyone wants everyone with runway clearance to unleash his/her inner Rei — that’s the last thing a month-long fashion season needs....but we do need the occasional flight of the ordinary.....delivered by someone who has earned the right to send it packing. Along the way, we might be thrilled, outraged, awed, annoyed — so be it.

This fall, though Kawakubo may be passionate in her exploration of the convergence of ugly and beautiful, we might be amused. Dare we tell her that her knit-one/purl-two gyrations are perversely on trend? That there’s a word for a collection built on a base of stretchy catsuits with a dash of cropped tops and naughty sparkle panties — sexy? Or maybe we should thank her for sending a message of sartorial tolerance: Monsters are just like the rest of us. In the throes of a bleak winter, they want to feel cozy, too.

 

[Deleted member 119799]

i think the way her previous collection (that is in shops now) was translated to the shop floor is quite interesting, the shapes and ideas were more or less the same except everything was done in white cotton, making it much more easy to wear.

i assume they'll do something along those lines for this collection as well

i'm just happy to see a collection that isn't all about shopping but is focussed on creativity and ideas

 

[KKnardi]

Oh the word! MONSTER! wow... oh lord!
I'm usually all for her eccentric style, but this time around something isn't clicking with me

 

[margielamike2004]

Runway Review by Jo-Ann Furniss at Style.com

GREAT REVIEW...WITH MANY POIGNANT OBSERVATIONS!!

"How on earth would Rei Kawakubo follow up last season's collection? That's what many reviewers were asking themselves before the start of the Comme des Garçons show this evening. Would this be another complete break from fashion? After rejecting clothing and making "objects for the body" last season, it was a distinct possibility. Or would the fashion system and its clothing be fondly missed and fully embraced with open arms by Kawakubo once more? The answer was a mixture of the two. In many ways, that mixture—which was in no way a compromise—was a more surprising move today.

Has Rei Kawakubo moved the goalposts within the space of a season so comprehensively for the fashion industry? In a sense, she has. The sight of those monstrous shapes—literally, largely knitted monstrosities—enveloping the models with their oversize frames, knitted cages, and multiple arms was no longer a shock. As the first model appeared in her gigantic, David Byrne-style Stop Making Sense jacket, it actually all made rather a lot of sense. This gigantic, tailored, Prince of Wales-check item seemed perfectly feasible to be worn in a certain way, perhaps not day to day but certainly on special occasions. This was a clothing collection, but one where the boundaries had been redefined.

Of course, not everything had so much ease; the ability to move your arms or see properly at times is an issue. Then again, women in burkas face similar drawbacks, and that seems largely the result of obligation, as opposed to the decidedly free choice of wearing Comme. But unlike with Kawakubo's last collection, much could be altered in the styling, thus making the clothing less inherently outlandish or impractical.

But who cares if the clothing is outlandish and impractical, anyway? What Kawakubo now seems to be asking her customer to do is to consume clothing in a different way. She also seems to be making a point about the fashion system overall and redefining what it can be; for example, the sales of her last collection, with its ultra-expensive and outré single pieces, were very healthy indeed.

Kawakubo herself defined the lineup in the following way: "The theme of the collection this time is MONSTER. It's not about the typical Monster you find in sci-fi and video games. The expression of the Monsters I have made has a much deeper meaning. The craziness of humanity, the fear we all have, the feeling of going beyond common sense, the absence of ordinariness, expressed by something extremely big, by something that could be ugly or beautiful. In other words, I wanted to question the established standards of beauty."

What seems to really haunt Kawakubo is the demanding, rapacious monster of fashion itself, consuming everything in its path and always insisting on more from her. It might be a case of cod psychology, but those heavy knitted chains—like something Jacob Marley's ghost would wear—the knotted sleeves, and the massive, enveloping, suffocating shapes all point to a nightmare pursuing Kawakubo. At the same time, it could all be a beautiful dream. Only she can really decide. But one thing is for sure: Without her, fashion might indeed be a nightmare and would certainly be a far poorer place.

 

[Scott]

you know i think regardless of its lack of practicality,as jo-ann says here,perhaps this period is her attempt at radicalising the proverbial landscape once more as she did when she first debuted in paris in 1981--and we see how that turned out….how it turned fashion on its stuffy,narrow-minded heels. as much as i would love to see as jo-ann put it correctly,that "mixture" i find myself appreciating this a lot more as the hours have passed.

 

[Petit Lucille]

It does looks like a retrospective with all the lumps, bumps, knots and tutus. Nevertheless, it still has that delicate feel to it that makes you all soft inside. I wonder if ANY of these are translated into comercial pieces, or if they hold no relation to the end product.

 

[bearbrick]

I like it , I think but sometimes I feel she's trying to push things to a limit by just pushing things to the limit just becos she can ...

Pity the retailers trying to push this .

I know they will buy CDG s multitude of sub brands ....but these surely will end in being 50 to 80% off at some rack sale .

At times I think she's laughing inside .

 

[PROPERMENTAL]

for these who are saying its not wearable ,
its obviously not meant for you to be worn by.

 

[margielamike2004]

It's definitely wearable....I mean, the models are wearing the garments...so they can obviously be worn......but......I just don't see this collection as being practical...or even functional.

How does someone sit down wearing wearing these, pieces...unless you want to stand all day??

All the pieces are wearable....I just don't see them as practical....or functional, aside from putting it upon one's body.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Waste not, want not.

Makes me think of the piles of clothing shipped to thrift stores - daily.

To me this feels like a statement about consumption. Or over-consumption.

I like that her collections give me abstract thoughts. It borders on poetry.