Comme des Garcons Homme Plus F/W 04.05 Paris

[margielamike2004]

My UTMOST, favorite, collection for men!!! In my opinion...all of Rei's following collections for men have been a complete disappointment. The Rolling Stone's collection was a bit too gimmicky...the Pink Panther collection a bit too "cartoonish"...The Gold collection a bit too flashy and blingy...her collection for Fall 2008 a bit too done, redundant, and too Vivienne Westwood.

For this collection...the choice of fabrics was amazing....the colors were very daring, but blended very well...the silouette of the harem/ish pants was at least something refreshing and slightly new for men...and the patterns/weaves of the fabrics were brilliant!!!

 

[homeboy]

I like the pirate spirit of it. Looks like something Johnny Depp would happily wear.

 

[margielamike2004]

I found an article in an old Arena Men's Fashion Magazine from 2004. The article is by Stephen Todd, interviewing Rei Kawakubo about this particular collection, and her views about the fashion atmosphere during this time."She's (Rei Kawakubo) been called the only fashion genius to emerge since Yves Saint Laurent...a radical...a revolutionary...and the most powefully influential living fashion designer in the world. The press has dubbed her "fearless", thanks to her take-no-prisoners approach to each collection, and "fashion's most enduring enigma" because of her refusal to play the press card hard, even in these highly mediated times. Given the avalanche of accolades, it seems only natural to ask Rei Kawakubo about her extrodinary rapport with fashion, and how it has evolved over the 30 years that she's been in the game. But don't expect any major revelations from her. When asked, she simply says "It's just my job.".....Article to continue:

 

[margielamike2004]

"It's a job she has carried out with great integrity, never ceasing to question the parameters of fashion...and her own role in an ever-evolving creative process. Since her first presentation in 1981, Kawakubo has sent out clothing shot-through with holes, turned inside out and upside down, padded with foam bumps, edged with frills, corseted, and created in pretty tartan, Liberty print, chunky checks, and mangled wool. All this while earnestly tampering with our notions of proportion, construction, and context, not to mention beauty and sensuality. Starting every collection "from zero", as she puts it, is not easy. "There ore experience you have, the more things you have done, the more things there are not to do again, and the more difficult it is to create something new," she says. Article to continue:

 

[margielamike2004]

"This season (CDG Homme Plus A/W 2004) things began smoothly enough, with pinstripe suiting worn over white shirts. But then, jackets began to turn up with frayed edges and a riot of pink and green wool trims; others were boiled to create a scalloped effect. Trousers were voluminous, often straight-cut on the outer seam to mid-calf, the crotch hanging below the knees as if to avoid any overt signs of sexuality. Frilled collars mounted high on the neck, under striped, checkred, and metallic-hued velour jackets; high hats and Jack The Riper-worthy wool overcoats completed the Dickensian-Dandy feeling. Presented at La Coupole, the famous Montparnasse brasserie, with astonished diners and passersby looking on, the collection took Kawakubo's avant-garde vision out of the white cube and inserted it into the everyday, rendering it, as she puts it, "independent."

 

[margielamike2004]

I can certainly see the Johnny Depp, pirate influnce this collectionmay "appear" to have...but, upon closer examination...it looks more Edwardian Dandy...very much like the famous writer Oscar Wilde.. The pie-crust collars...the use of velvet...the low-crotch pants that render the wearer almost sex-less (is it a skirt..or are they pants???)...which ambigiously acknowledges the fact that Oscar Wild was homosexual...this whole collection makes a very unorthodox statement.

 

[user500]

@ Margielamike:

Thanks for the review you posted!

Yes it was a very strong collection and there didn´t follow such a overall great menswear collection of Comme des Garcons yet. But I wouldn´t call the ones after aw 04 totally disappointing , in no way! I would just say they´re not so strong as an overall collection like here, where I can say that every look is really amazing.
The following collection, the "pink panther", was a really great one too. The approach in menswear of it still feels so fresh to me - colours, silhouette and the patterns. And Aw 07, SS 08 were great, ...

Here`s another review of AW 04 i have from "Another Magazine":

"... At the same time a different kind of "end of Empire" feeling was also found on display at Rei Kawakubo`s Comme Des Garcons. "The theme of the collection was 'lost englishman' ," clarifies Kawakubo. "It wasn`t really about a certain time or person, just a kind of feeling of an English adventurer wandering around and breaking out of traditional moulds, being confused and experimental." Nevertheless, with its traditional fabrications and subversion of classic dress codes and silhouettes, Kawakubo, too, seems indebted too romantic ideas of the past."

 

[margielamike2004]

I certainly agree with your point of view, User500. The collections that followed A/W 2004 are entirely interesting, and I wouldn't dismiss any of the proceeding collections. There have always been a few pieces from every CDG homme Plus collection that I would consider wearing..and many of them were actually very desireable, too.

I think the main grudge I have against most of the following collections from 2004 is her insistance on "refrencing" certain topics. I actually love The Pink Panther and The Rolling Stones...but I'd rather hear an album or watch a movie by the aforementioned...instead of wearing these "slogans" or "mascots" on my clothing. Junya Watanabe seems to follow in her traces as far as inspiration...kinda like re-inventing the classics and modernizing them as with Lacoste, Levi's, Lewis Leathers, Pointer, Brooks Brother's, etc etc....but I prefer non-commercial clothing, hence...no logo's...no advertising labels, or corporate branding. To me...it simply lacks good taste and a sense of one's individual style...but regardless...it's only my personal opinion. To each, their own.

 

[redsquad]

Homme Plus a/w 2004 pants

Pants by Comme des Garcons

Photography: Willy Vanderperre
Styling: Alister Mackie
Hair and Makeup: Pter Philips at Art and Commerce
Set design: Setevie Stuart and Streeters London
Model: Jeremy Dufour at Success Paris

Source: Another Magazine. Autumn/Winter 2004.

 

[user500]

if i had to choose one collection from homme plus, i would name this as my favorite... besides i like a/w 98, 99, 01, 03 and s/s 00, 01 and 05 mostly. from the a/w 04 collection i own one single piece. the mid brown wool jacket, which the model is wearing with a yellow sweater and grey pants. it looks even heavier than on the runway photo, imo. though i try to get sth. more from it vintage by chance.

margielamike, do you actually own sth. from this collection?

 

[margielamike2004]

 

[margielamike2004]

Hello User500...I TRIED posting a pic of the 2 jackets that I own from this collection...but unfortunately, I'm a computer idiot. I tried EVERYTHING to try to figure this out!!...sorry!!

The 2 jackets that I DO own are the tan/beige jacket w/th horizontal stripes. The colors of the jacket are beige (primarilly) navy blue, orange, and the see-through monofilament fiber. The model in the pic is wearing the jacket with plaid patterned pants, the model has light blond hair.

The other jacket I own is dark brown, mint-green, and a sorta melon orange horizontal stripes...the jacket also has (again) the see-through monofilament fiber. The model is wearing the jacket with gray pants, tall boots, a white t-shirt, and he has dark colored hair. I think it's the jacket in the photo that comes after the one you own...the beige one with the model wearing a bright yellow frill-front shirt and gray pants.

 

[margielamike2004]

If you count the pictures in order (counting from left to right) I own the jacket in picture number 7.....and picture number 11.

 

[user500]

oh, these are two very nice ones, that you have!

maybe i can find some detail pictures of the clothes and fabrics, i will post...

 

[user500]

pics from:
auctions.yahoo.co.jp/ netoff_01

 

[user500]

pic from:
auctions.yahoo.co.jp/ netoff_01

 

[wire.artist]

thanks user 500, I've owned some of the sarrouel, but they are a pain to walk , it's also my fav collection from h+

those boots looks gorgeous,please PM the link if it's an active auction

 

[jellslove]

At first glance, some looks can be quite unsightly-- but that's a risk you must take when you venture with Rei Kawakubo.
I'm quite on the fence to be honest, I know she is on the verge of being the anti-fashion of the fashion world, so every season must be taken with the grain of salt.
I am liking certain looks that adds an interesting dimension in terms of purposely clashing some colors and patterns-- yet at the same time I'm not quite sure if it's new and innovative.
For sure, I am loving the pants. It plays with 1940s men's silhouette, but at the same time I am definitely thinking Bigi, a Japanese brand from the 1970s that took inspiration from the dandified suits. Though, I sincerely doubt Ms. Kawakubo took inspiration from this brand, the silhouette is unmistakable.

 

[fashion.fashoff]

i really like this collection. i like the layering of clashing colors and textures. i have the jacket in post 10 picture 3 (purple & grey). i'm wearing it today with a red tartan scarf and a black/white/red/grey plaid shirt. i have to say i really love the look. to me, i guess the overwhelming presence of so many layered patterns/colors renders them patternless/colorless...so to me it is kind of the same concept of just wearing all layered black as i usually do. sounds weird but thats how it strikes me.

 

[redsquad]

Hi-

"so many layered patterns/colors renders them patternless/colorless", that is really striking. I like that because in a way, that is how I feel about Harajuku clothes from Fruits Magazine. So many different references...so many countries and references from popculture...everything combine is everything and nothing.