Comme des Garçons S/S 2016 Paris

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^ that's nice.

I didn't really think much of anything to be frank, more like dreamland or the amount of dimensions a beautiful song takes if you play it in the dark after 3 am. Ultimately, over the years I noticed many of her collections come down to emotional availability.. you're either in for the ride or you're not. Personally, sometimes I'm not. But to demand after so many decades for her to change how she works and to respond to times, well.. good luck.

The way I perceive it, and god knows I don't even have time to give much thought on this and I already feel guilty for writing about it, sometimes it's just healthy to retreat, especially in an industry that seems to expect 100% and once you deliver that, 200% or 500% until it's all been extracted and you're reduced to nothing. You can play autistic the way someone like Margaret Howell does but I respect this pace too, of retreating and taking a profession that creates something so basic and primal and social and using a hundred strokes to transform it and create magic and story-telling that's usually absent from it, that only shares the same root but is unrelated because it exists somewhere else, all while still feeding the NY-minded business-starved consumer snapping fingers like 'wow me' with the other lines.

Anyway, these discussions can get so harsh and subjective... I'm puzzled by the dinosaur accusation in a time where NYFW is allowed to happen, where this cancer named Anna Wintour keeps calling the shots basically everywhere, where old houses are still equivalent of maximum success as a creator, where the sole format of fashion week is completely stupid and ancient. What's next? Yohji, you filthy rich broken record?. Back to this show, sometimes it's good to take some distance and let your imagination wander into constructive (not necessarily ambitious) new ways... and maybe respect the people that inspire to do so and inspire artistic expression (for lack of a better word), not just stardom and being and delivering what's hot.
 
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It's good but a bit like Prada to me: I'm used to that. I don't find anything subversive in that.
It's great as an art form or performance fashion (not this non-sense at Rick Owens) but it doesn't excite me.

Her last collection i really enjoyed was the FW 2013. I really like when she re-work ordinary clothes.
But she is a force and she is doing her thing! I applaud that!
 
That Margaret Howell comment made me laugh. But yes, now more than ever we need these designers/creators who just want to do their own thing and everything else be damned. Howell, Dries Van Noten, Yohji Yamamoto, Miuccia Prada, Antonio Marras, Junya Watanabe. I admire them for sticking to their guns especially in this, as MulletProof said, cancerous fashion climate. Otherwise you compromise (look at Chalayan, practically a shadow of himself). Vogue recently released their archives of collections from the nineties, and my God to be reminded that the spirit of creativity was allowed to actually exist in the fashion industry makes me want to weep. And how ironic that clothes from the nineties can still be worn today, can still appear fresh and relevant, have made a strong impact, while most collections these days will disappear within months, barely to be remembered. To compare it to now, it's like we're living in the dark ages with some bright lights every now and then. I agree with gazebo: this is a reaction to all that is happening.

Not Plain Jane said:
i like the feathers and red wigs :P
is this about birds in their nests?
this feels all bird-like to me.
Click to expand...

Apparently the collection is called Blue Witches, but the shapes here do look very birdlike (or relates to birds, such as their habitats). I was hoping Jo-Ann Furniss would review this for Vogue. She always has the most lucid insights, but also I'd love to see this collection in motion to fully appreciate it.
 
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^^^ The fashions cape of the 90s— and that also includes not just designers, but magazines, models and creatives involved, was an era that still holds much reverence for me. I still have pieces from Helmut, Jil, Prada, Dolce (yes, 90s Dolce was glorious) that I still wear and they blend in so well with recent purchases. And that’s just it in reference to this collection: As dramatic, as masterfully-executed, and as (seemingly) uncompromised as this may be, who’s going to wear it? I fail to see the relevance for such designs as proposed in this collection of a RTW label, except for as costumes for performers and for editorials. Because, yes— it’s all very dramatic-looking, but how will a customer wear all this if they’re not Sia…?

I do see Rei and her Comme label as high fashion, as a designer label and not as an avenue for a high art collective— even though it could very well be and that’s a totally valid perspective.

Visual artists and writers explore concepts that are afforded a more abstract structure and concept than fashion designers, so the Dadaist and Surrealist writers aren’t beholden by that one obstacle as a fashion designer: the human bodies that they dress. Very different needs and approaches conceptually, and structurally, to me anyways.

And yes, of course the high fashion expression needs to come from a place of genuine self-expression and not follow some corporate formula like those Marvel Legends blockbusters (and just wait till 2016 when Star Wars will be everywhere, every single fcuking year until the end of time)— that would be the domain of department-store fashions. But once again, unlike cinema (if one can call Marvel Superheroes and Jurassic Park cinema LOL), high fashion still needs to be worn on the human body. So… as much as self-expression should be encouraged in high fashion, designers still need to take the human body— preferably different sizes of human bodies they’re dressing into account.

For me, the best Comme collections are the ones that are a proposal, an alternative concept to a way of modern dressing— but it’s still dressing someone living that's navigating through the modern world, which is something this label has been doing rather well for nearly 4 decades. It has nothing to do with being not accepting of another alternative vision of high fashion, so I frankly just don’t see the inventiveness in such extremities as dressing the human form in an impressive volume of material that also restricts their mobility, their vision— no matter how well made it may be. These are beautiful costumes no doubt, but such a cliche of the what high fashion can be also— not beautiful clothes that one can wear— and definitely not in the spring/summer months LOL
 
Are were seriously questioning the the wearability of a Comme des Garçons collection? Have I feel into same kind of fashion rabit hole?
 
Marc10 said:
Are were seriously questioning the the wearability of a Comme des Garçons collection? Have I feel into same kind of fashion rabit hole?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm confused as well. It's not like this stuff is gonna end up in stores as it is on the runway. The last collection I remember flowing seamlessly from runway to stores was the bi-dimensional dresses and coats one, and even those, they were stripped down for retail. I just fail to understand the argument, this is not Isabel Marant we're talking about?
 
Marc10 said:
Are were seriously questioning the the wearability of a Comme des Garçons collection? Have I feel into same kind of fashion rabit hole?
Click to expand...
Marc...have you seen any of her collections prior to 2008?

I'm not quite sure Phuel and I are being understood - I don't think either of us would be interested in Rei showing polo shirts and jeans on the runway...I think it would just be more interesting to see her work in a way again in which the clothes she's designing actually have viability for a customer. Even in the early 2000's she was still making very conceptual, very clever, very challenging clothing, but it was clothing nonetheless that could be worn. By everyone? No! Of course not, but it still had potential for life outside the catwalk.
 
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^^^ Yeah— I think it’s the old “You’re either with us— or you're against us” attitude I’m feeling LOL

I don’t understand these extremities of the spectrum. Why does it have to be either logo polos and jeans or costumes for Sia? Sheesh, the hyperbole I read here sometimes is just… Good for you if you’re so privileged in your high fashion cocoon that you don’t need to even consider anyone else but your own whims. I mean that, I wish for that life as well. Sucks for me but, as much as I love love love high fashion, I need to drive, get into cabs and the subway, walk up and down stairs and maneuver through the city and places as unobstructed by my clothes as possible. And I can’t imagine any women save for Sia performing or the Hadid sisters in Carine’s editorial, wearing all this while doing what I do in their lives.

Once again, good for you if you’re being driven around, even carried around in your life.

(Of course what ends up in the shops is never quite the same as what’s shown. But wouldn’t it be a tad considerate if more accessible pieces and looks were included with these showpieces? A proposal that’s a bit more grounded than just fantasy looks is what makes RTW— ready to wear…)
 
Re your previous post, you said high fashion needs to be worn on the human body, I don't think that's always the case... clothes do, not ideas presented in events like this, in the same vein the primary aim of an editorial or publication is to tell you what to wear while the most inspiring ones are actually the ones whose ideas you can't take as they are to real life in any way, you just extract mood, suggestions, and have to think and execute it yourself. The only concern left would be the viability of putting up a show like this but she's created a business that gives her the freedom to sustain this kind of thing.

As for subways and cabs... well men are certainly more practical-minded, women aren't, apparently by choice but it's a gender role relic.. they'll walk on sticks, stuff they can't breath or run in, they'll argue their shoes are perfectly comfortable and just hurt a little even when their feet are bleeding.. I mean.. yeah, they'd wear this stuff if only it was perceived as hot... they'd just uber. :lol:
 
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I understood from Phuel and dior_couture1245 posts is the fact that, what's the point to show so much creativity if that can't be translated into a form that can accomplish the fuction of clothes and what they're meant for ? If so, then I agree with both. It would be great if Rei can make not only aesthetically creative garments but wearability too.

I get that can be refreshing to see so much wildness in a sea of copy-paste collections but, as some complain that *insert any designer you want here* isn't moving from his comfort zone and being too commercial, can't we say the same against Rei ? that can be easy for her to show a spectacle of costumes because We're used to ?

Phuel said:
^^^ Yeah— I think it’s the old “You’re either with us— or you're against us” attitude I’m feeling LOL
Click to expand...

And unfortunately, that's why the discussion on the Dior SS16 thread became such a trainwreck.
 
^ I understood the same. Maybe not seeing things the same way equals not understanding these days, but the point is brought up seasonally. All I said was that as things shift towards responding to this precise demand of giving functionality, at least minimal functionality and it constricts creations and repeatedly leads to rejoice followed by dismissal of the designer (or plain exhaustion), she seems to be pulling away or letting her work escalate.. inwards (?). Out of rebellion? I don't think so, she's probably bored out of her mind by the atmosphere and immediateness as the rest of us are.
 
MulletProof said:
^ I understood the same. Maybe not seeing things the same way equals not understanding these days, but the point is brought up seasonally. All I said was that as things shift towards responding to this precise demand of giving functionality, at least minimal functionality and it constricts creations and repeatedly leads to rejoice followed by dismissal of the designer (or plain exhaustion), she seems to be pulling away or letting her work escalate.. inwards (?). Out of rebellion? I don't think so, she's probably bored out of her mind by the atmosphere and immediateness as the rest of us are.
Click to expand...

Fair enough MulletProof, especially the bolded part of your point because it bring up the fact that CdG stands for this sense of nonconformity.
 
MulletProof has said it better than I could have. Yes, these are not clothes but ideas. Sometimes Kawakubo works within the framework of practicality, sometimes she doesn't (for instance, the body meets dress, dress meets body/lumps and bumps collection). Knowing what this label stands for, knowing its long history and legacy, I see this simply as a natural outgrowth. Battle lines aren't being drawn here, just trying to point out that the proposal of function is not going to be one of the things expected from a Comme des Garçons show. The clients, audience, and fan base already know this.

Maybe it would be useful to think of Comme des Garcons as comparable to avant garde cinema? Like fashion, cinema is an industry shaped by commercial demand, but filmmakers are still able to commit themselves to the experimental in spite of the presence of a market. However, they don't expect their films to be shown in the multiplex in the same way that Comme des Garcons creations aren't going to be worn during the day-to-day business of life (though there are those who try, i.e. Kazuyo Sejima, but even then it's only to accept a Pritzker). For those who would like to see the Comme des Garçons aesthetic married to everyday functionality, there's Junya Watanabe and Kei Ninomiya working under the same corporate umbrella.
 
Phuel said:
^^^ Yeah— I think it’s the old “You’re either with us— or you're against us” attitude I’m feeling LOL

I don’t understand these extremities of the spectrum. Why does it have to be either logo polos and jeans or costumes for Sia? Sheesh, the hyperbole I read here sometimes is just… Good for you if you’re so privileged in your high fashion cocoon that you don’t need to even consider anyone else but your own whims. I mean that, I wish for that life as well. Sucks for me but, as much as I love love love high fashion, I need to drive, get into cabs and the subway, walk up and down stairs and maneuver through the city and places as unobstructed by my clothes as possible. And I can’t imagine any women save for Sia performing or the Hadid sisters in Carine’s editorial, wearing all this while doing what I do in their lives.

Once again, good for you if you’re being driven around, even carried around in your life.

(Of course what ends up in the shops is never quite the same as what’s shown. But wouldn’t it be a tad considerate if more accessible pieces and looks were included with these showpieces? A proposal that’s a bit more grounded than just fantasy looks is what makes RTW— ready to wear…)
Click to expand...


Well it's not like if the clothes presented here were actually available in stores i'd ever be able to afford them or, even if so, to wear them to go about town, lol.

i love fashion cause it inspires and excites me. some designers i actually look forward to cause they make clothes like the ones i wear in my everyday life, others are there to amaze me - given that i own quite a few Comme Des Garcons items, including a cape that's a stripped down version of a runway piece from ss12, but i don't mind it being a wearable version of something that made me go 'wow' when i first saw it.
fashion has become less and less exciting for me as years have gone by, and to have someone like rei present some art-works that simply amaze me, is one of the things that keep me interested. it's the same as haute couture (which has become as boring as rtw as of lately). Watching those first, over the top galliano collections at dior is what got me interested in fashion in the first place... and those were neither wearable nor in the realm of possiblity re: me ever owning them.
Rei's recent work is on a different side of things, as like stated many times in this thread, goes maybe beyond the concept of wearability, maybe she's no longer interested, maybe she's just saying 'f*you*' to whoever the receiver might be - the media? the industry? consumers?, but i'm still excited by it.

And to be honest, i don't even necessarily find that all of the pieces in this collection are 'abstract' or are not thought to be worn as actual clothes.
 
I’m not trying to be a party-pooper LOL

I understand the opposing view here. I really do. I’ve had to work with department-store fashions, fast-fashions, and the cheap type of “high fashions” that make me cringe from the styling to the direction of the branding. And I do it because I have to make a living. But when I work with designers who are more artisans and I’m inspired by them not only for the original high fashions they produce, but from the education I get, I am so grateful for the opportunity to contribute in building their brand, and that they’re my friends as well. I get it. I get how important individuality is.

I just don’t agree with going to the extreme end of the spectrum in this case and only presenting showpieces that are costumes for performers and for editorials. That’s all.

Don’t ever stop offering the ridiculous, the sublime and the extreme looks. As I’ve mentioned from my very first post on this: They’re wonderful and Rei's wonderful and the Comme universe is wonderful. And it’s been wonderful for over 40 years. I only wish there were some accompanying, more accessible pieces and looks mingling together with the showpieces. I’m not wishing for Uniqlo basics at Comme.

Of course she’s earned her right to design and present whatever she wants at this point— particularly at this point in the high fashionscape which seems to be ruled by corporations and mediocrity; her Comme universe is extraordinary and impenetrable, down to the graphic design and its layout for her perfume bottles. But I’m just not going to “ooooohhhhh” and “aaaaahhhhhh” unconditionally whenever she decides to forsake any semblance of “ready-to-wear” and completely indulge in her whims.

Oh Mullet… let’s meet for dinner in LA some time, and I’d die to see you show up squeezing out of your ride in the felt/feathers/velvet cocoon piece in the LA spring air. Maybe I’ll even get to feed you your dinner LOL
 
:rofl:

down!.. just pointing out who I am on the street to the driver would be a dream. :lol:
 
what y'all looking for are right down pre 2014ss collections.

yes, i also prefer those spectacle designs which could still maintain accessible approach.

right now she's been changing the mode aka "the ultimate Rei". I don't want to be sound like a crow mouth, but it might seems like the final state of CdG. and I'm treasuring this extreme burst of pure ideas and inspirations.
 
i like it...
i'm not used to these blues from her and since i have been in a really blue phase myself, i'm happy to see her using these shades...

FYI-
I have seen every single runway piece in the CDG stores over the years...
perhaps because i am in NYC - but these really are produced...
at least in limited quantities...
even that weird bunch of stuff from the last several seasons...
i saw it at the NYC DSM...
i couldn't help but smile at her boldness for putting it on the racks, in fact...
in fact...
it would be fun to just go in and try some of this stuff on~!



^_^...

i can't read the whole thread right now, but i am so happy to see a comme thread be more than 4-6 posts long...
:lol:...
 
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