Comme des Garçons S/S 2014 Paris

[elle_gb]

This is quite insane collection, I'm not into it but it was magnificently design.

 

[sore]

I can't really see the Chanel reference either, apart from a few obvious pieces.
I feel it's a revision of her 'lumps and bumps' collection, but the paddings aren't as obviously underneath the surface or playing with the surface than back in the days, they now are the only surface.

 

[Scott]

^or maybe like the review possibly alluded to,it did have it's role but in an otherwise general context of branding,commerce and the visibility we see today. perhaps she's trying to take this bull by the horns and use it to her masterful advantage of making a statement on the fashion system as it exists currently.

 

[Deleted member 119799]

September 28, 2013 Paris
By Jo-Ann Furniss
In a Paris show season full of designers testing their own limits and going against preconceived notions of themselves, it has been down to Rei Kawakubo to go the furthest of all. In today's Comme des Garçons collection of twenty-three looks, each accompanied by its own particular piece of music, she presented a series of objects that might be worn on the body.

Now, that last statement might seem rather arch, but there is a reason for it. Always wanting to do something new, something that hasn't existed before, Kawakubo decided this season that the only way she could do this was by setting out not to make clothes. The designer wanted to see herself, not through her own fashion eyes, but through ones that were innocent of all this. That's why, this evening, she adhered to none of the strict fashion show formulas. There had been no toiles, no fittings on the body; these were objects to go beyond the body, to reformulate what fashion is to the designer.

This is one of the reasons the collection is one about which it’s incredibly difficult to write. To roll out all of the autopilot fashion formulas, all of the blah blah about fabrics and forms, to adhere to a standard frame of reference—that's just not going to cut it. To pass judgments on "wearability" or "practicality" just seems facile, especially as figures such as Leigh Bowery have existed in the past and helped move the goal posts of the perception of clothing and fashion. And hopefully most of us are lucky enough to live in societies where we can wear what the hell we want, where we can always push the boundaries without literally being arrested. Perhaps, to paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt, no one can make you feel what fashion is without your consent. Kawakubo is simply asking for consent, not dictating the terms of clothing.

But what Kawakubo also still clearly believes in is the live, living event of the show—a moment of combined creativity that, at its best, is evocative and emotional—and those feelings cannot ever really be reproduced over the Internet or in a catwalk shot. "I have nothing to say, only to show," wrote the philosopher and critic Walter Benjamin, and that statement applies to Kawakubo like no other. She has done her work; she can't explain any further; now it has to be witnessed. Fashion designers at their best function almost purely on instinct, and ultimately it is very difficult to explain instinct. Kawakubo was merely following hers this season. It was down to the show to really communicate the collection.

The experimental sound artist 20 Hertz, working with Hell's Kitchen, provided the music for each piece. Playfully spanning eras and genres from the eighteenth century operatic to 1980s electro, it was a dizzying and delightful array of moods and feelings juxtaposed. Thierry Dreyfus did a great job of lighting the proceedings, bringing to mind something of German Expressionist cinema. The hairstylist and makeup artist Julien d'Ys provided his own equally abstracted interpretations questioning what hair and makeup should be. The applause at the end was loud and prolonged. Yes, it was all incredibly theatrical. Yes, ultimately, the "clothing" has to be looked at in the flesh and decided upon by the individual. But do not think that this collection is simply for a niche elite of fashion nerds; the repercussions are much wider.

Kawakubo's profound influence in the fashion industry is as a symbol, a touchstone by which many designers can justify their risk-taking and sometimes their very existence in the profession. Many designers work in the big machines of fashion and are not so tightly in control of their own destinies as Kawakubo, but when faced with an onslaught of marketing people who would rather have them produce a slew of nondescript T-shirts and handbags, these designers can point to the fact that somebody like Kawakubo exists, occupies a place of honor in the fashion world, and has a successful business in it. She is the ultimate, symbolic **** you in the face of the often myopic marketing machine. That's why whatever Kawakubo chooses to do, it has significance for fashion overall and for all of us who are interested in it—or who merely wear clothes.

style.com

great review!

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Yes, I am really liking Jo-Ann Furniss' collection reviews at Style.com this season!

Her final paragraph is worthy of highlighting

Kawakubo's profound influence in the fashion industry is as a symbol, a touchstone by which many designers can justify their risk-taking and sometimes their very existence in the profession. Many designers work in the big machines of fashion and are not so tightly in control of their own destinies as Kawakubo, but when faced with an onslaught of marketing people who would rather have them produce a slew of nondescript T-shirts and handbags, these designers can point to the fact that somebody like Kawakubo exists, occupies a place of honor in the fashion world, and has a successful business in it. She is the ultimate, symbolic **** you in the face of the often myopic marketing machine. That's why whatever Kawakubo chooses to do, it has significance for fashion overall and for all of us who are interested in it—or who merely wear clothes.

 

[Scott]

jo-ann has now ruined me for other reviews....brilliant piece!

 

[Phuel]

You know, people here-- and in the industry, throw around the label 'brilliant" and "genius" the way they dispense pleasantries so often, these words no longer have any impact.

Miuccia, Nicolas and Phoebe are really great fashion designers to me, but they've never been able to break out from the constraints of fashion and reach that next level. Even my all time love Helmut has never been able to go beyond... fashion. There are very, very few brilliant, genius-- visionary designers, for me anyways; the ones who create whole other worlds with their designs-- melding and fusing cultures, time and space into something entirely their own. McQueen the man was undoubtably one in a million who possessed that talent. Gaultier-- even ten years ago, remained visionary. Now, he seems so content just camping it up, unfortunately. And Rei, this woman seems stronger now than ever-- with the A/W 2013 collection. so, I wonder what sort of a reaction Rei wanted with this showing?

I'm indifferent towards it. It's just not interesting enough to provoke an emotional response from me. And I think Rei would be insulted that she can't evoke even disgust from me if we were sitting in front of one another. It's really just not interesting-- good, or bad. For all its supposed absurdity and anarchy-- it's just too common-looking to me.

At best, it resembles demented and slightly perverse costumes for a fifth-grade Christmas pageant... You know, the ones where all the little girls wear tights with their runners and they're a strawberry, or a block of cheese...

At worst, this resembles a cliche, try-hard first-year fashion student's project; where a serious stern expression goes with the desperately-seeking-attention getup that Sasha Chen's Bruno would love.

In either case, everything looks extremely well-made. So there's that.

I get what she's saying, but I just wished it was with the unexpected designs I've come to expect from CdG. This is all very Emperor's new clothes to me. And Rei is so much more intelligent, ingenious, and beyond creative than this.

 

[runner]

CdG laocoon
or cesare ripa would say it's like allegory of pain, grief


images from afpbb

 

[margielamike2004]

Has anyone seen or know where to find the runway video for this collection??

If you know where...or if you have it......could someone please post the link, here?

 

[Deleted member 119799]

Has anyone seen or know where to find the runway video for this collection??

If you know where...or if you have it......could someone please post the link, here?

http://vimeo.com/76952599#

there you go

 

[margielamike2004]

Thanks a million for the video link!! :0)

 

[KKnardi]

http://vimeo.com/76952599#

there you go

thanks a million!