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Comme des Garcons S/S 2006 Paris
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helena
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I wonder how much is the styling....and whether some pieces an be worn less awkwardly. I really really love some of the tartan though. I do think she has drawn inspiration from wild scots form the days of the Clans. I see some lovely Dress Stuart tartan there which Vivienne westwood used last winter (04) for trousers.Its a great tartan. The wrapping technique looks very authentic the way it would have been wrapped around the body hundreds of years ago. I guess there is a fighting spirit here too. Haven't looked at the Union Jack stuff yet....slightly jars with me as a Scot though! 
Truly a beautiful selection of photos - thanks for posting!
If it is described as punk - this seems certainly a 'poetic' punk version...I am not concerned with the wearability yet as this is just beautiful to look at
If it is described as punk - this seems certainly a 'poetic' punk version...I am not concerned with the wearability yet as this is just beautiful to look at
Punk meets Dada
By Suzy Menkes International Herald Tribune
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2005
A reprise of punk and an ironic nihilism is coursing through the summer 2006 shows, reflecting the young music scene. A new Paris exhibition of Dada, the rejection of bourgeois values a century ago, is also an inspiration.
Until Comme des Garçons sent out an entirely punk collection on Tuesday, a reprise of Vivienne Westwood at her most outrageous, complete with Union Jack jersey underpants and tilted crowns above pretty pink faces, punk seemed like a fashion undercurrent. But here was Rei Kawakubo picking up an angry new youth culture in Tony Blair's Spend! Spend! Britain. To the soaring nationalistic "Land of Hope and Glory" and Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus," the models walked the runway, their mix of plaids, flowers and the red, white and blue Union flag as fabric draped across the body, padding shoulders and torso.
This new clash of the tartans was not aggressive, but beautiful, expressing all the new volumes, puffed shoulders and drapes current in fashion. Although this Comme show entitled "Lost Empire" did not have the emotion of last season's "broken bride," it proved that Kawakubo is always alert to what is going on. (...)
helena
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This look is my favorite.....thanks for the article nr9dream.....actually the idea of the 'lost Empire' is inconsistent with the Scottish theme...Scotland was assumed into the empire.....not the empire maker (which is what Land of Hope & Glory etc are all about....english nationalism). Whislt I like the visuals I am thinking the theme doesn't stack up with the clothes.
That is indeed a beautiful silhouette
Is she not referencing tartan as in symbol of punk (as pioneered by Westwood) and not the original scottish clans? ...am not entirely clear about the 'lost empire' theme either but am sure it will click...
Is she not referencing tartan as in symbol of punk (as pioneered by Westwood) and not the original scottish clans? ...am not entirely clear about the 'lost empire' theme either but am sure it will click...
helena
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^^^ maybe nr9dream....its just that the way she has reference tartan is in a very traditional sense...the draping. There is a misconception about kilts being ancient scottish dress...but in reality they wore tartan and plaids wrapped and pinned around their bodies for warmth and protection...they weren't sophisticated enough to have pleats etc so it was literally all just wrapped around with a particular technique (used here). It was later in the late 18th and 19th centuries (when the clan system was stamped out and the new landowners tried to dress up like natives) that it became formal dress which is what punks referenced - the mini kilt (i.e a formal style kilt rather than a wrapped plaid) and tartan trousers which were tight and had bondage on them. I dunno its just my take on it.....Westwood is obsessed with traditional dress design too. I am just a bit confused...but I am probably being uptight about it because its my heritage!!!
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helena
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COMME DES GARCONSFrom Camilla Morton, in Paris
DO you know all the words of Land of Hope and Glory? To be on trend and as ahead of the game as they are at Comme des Garcons it might be a good idea if you swatted up on them. Rei Kawakubo presented a collection that made you swell with British pride that was God Save the Queen meets Braveheart. Swirls and drapes of tartan and plaid, fairy lights, macramé crowns, rolls of fabric twisting Indian to Western in doughnut like ruffles on up the sleeves of the arms, curtain swags, colour and a real sense of joy de vivre - plus a bit of the old camouflage for any confrontational trendy moments. This was, as milliner Stephen Jones said 'The end of the Empire, of not just the English, but the Americas and beyond.' It was the first time that he has collaborated with Kawakubo on the runway for some twenty years, and, not only was she one of his first collaborations, but they reunited in style today. "When I first worked with her it took about five years to send a sketch - this was pre-email, pre-fax and it had to fly via America as you couldn't get over the Soviet Union at that time," he laughs. "Working with her is a dream come true. I respect her enormously." And she no doubt returns these feelings as it was Jones' crowns and the stirring anthems that bought a tear to your eye as you sang along with the chorus. (October 4 2005, PM)
from vogue.co.uk
DO you know all the words of Land of Hope and Glory? To be on trend and as ahead of the game as they are at Comme des Garcons it might be a good idea if you swatted up on them. Rei Kawakubo presented a collection that made you swell with British pride that was God Save the Queen meets Braveheart. Swirls and drapes of tartan and plaid, fairy lights, macramé crowns, rolls of fabric twisting Indian to Western in doughnut like ruffles on up the sleeves of the arms, curtain swags, colour and a real sense of joy de vivre - plus a bit of the old camouflage for any confrontational trendy moments. This was, as milliner Stephen Jones said 'The end of the Empire, of not just the English, but the Americas and beyond.' It was the first time that he has collaborated with Kawakubo on the runway for some twenty years, and, not only was she one of his first collaborations, but they reunited in style today. "When I first worked with her it took about five years to send a sketch - this was pre-email, pre-fax and it had to fly via America as you couldn't get over the Soviet Union at that time," he laughs. "Working with her is a dream come true. I respect her enormously." And she no doubt returns these feelings as it was Jones' crowns and the stirring anthems that bought a tear to your eye as you sang along with the chorus. (October 4 2005, PM)
from vogue.co.uk
[font=Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif][/font]
[font=Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Land of Hope and Glory[/font]
He was right. And the tune was so much appreciated by Edward VII that Elgar was commissioned to compose a work for the coronation of the king, later to be known as the 'Coronation Ode'. The tune was incorporated into this Ode, and this resulted in the song 'Land of Hope and Glory'. The Coronation Ode was finished in April 1902, and assured Elgar of a knighthood, in 1904. The Ode was also performed at the coronation of King George V in 1911.
From bbc.co.uk
[font=Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Land of Hope and Glory[/font]
Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
Wider still, and wider, shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet!
Truth and Right and Freedom, each a holy gem,
Stars of solemn brightness, weave thy diadem.
Tho' thy way be darkened, still in splendour drest,
As the star that trembles o'er the liquid West.
Throned amid the billows, throned inviolate,
Thou hast reigned victorious, thou has smiled at fate.
Land of Hope and Glory, fortress of the Free,
How may we extol thee, praise thee, honour thee?
Hark, a mighty nation maketh glad reply;
Lo, our lips are thankful, lo, our hearts are high!
Hearts in hope uplifted, loyal lips that sing;
Strong in faith and freedom, we have crowned our King!
The words are by Arthur C Benson (1862 - 1925), who wrote them in close collaboration with the composer, Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934). In 1901 Elgar produced the first two of his five 'Pomp and Circumstance' Marches, and it is the central theme of his Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D that provides the superb tune to these words. Elgar wrote some really great tunes, and he always knew when he was on to a winner. About this one he wrote at the time to a friend: 'I've got a tune that will knock 'em - knock 'em flat!' How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
Wider still, and wider, shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet!
Truth and Right and Freedom, each a holy gem,
Stars of solemn brightness, weave thy diadem.
Tho' thy way be darkened, still in splendour drest,
As the star that trembles o'er the liquid West.
Throned amid the billows, throned inviolate,
Thou hast reigned victorious, thou has smiled at fate.
Land of Hope and Glory, fortress of the Free,
How may we extol thee, praise thee, honour thee?
Hark, a mighty nation maketh glad reply;
Lo, our lips are thankful, lo, our hearts are high!
Hearts in hope uplifted, loyal lips that sing;
Strong in faith and freedom, we have crowned our King!
He was right. And the tune was so much appreciated by Edward VII that Elgar was commissioned to compose a work for the coronation of the king, later to be known as the 'Coronation Ode'. The tune was incorporated into this Ode, and this resulted in the song 'Land of Hope and Glory'. The Coronation Ode was finished in April 1902, and assured Elgar of a knighthood, in 1904. The Ode was also performed at the coronation of King George V in 1911.
From bbc.co.uk
...hm.. i guess pictures can only say so much.. esp. the few that were posted 
without the full presentation, music etc. it really is just speculation, and with comme des garcons it's always seven layers deep.
anyways, after seeing that full presenation and reading what has been said...it's nice to know that all this punk/ youthful energy isn't so much about bristling at the state of the world, although it addresses that still with the crowns and references to westwood, native tartans etc.., but it actually has some uplifting, encouraging things to say.
i really like the wrapping... as helena was saying that it is basically the most straight forward method of dress, no frills, no pleats etc... draped and dictated by the wearer. i think it does seem a lot like the lumpy collection ngth posted, the lumps alluding to a knapsack for carrying belongings on your back. i guess if i were to strip it down to what her main message is: wear whatever you need to wear, irregular looking, a bit unpolished whatever and feel good about it...the authority of anything else, the high echelon taste, is overruled by the individual. yep, overall very unbourgeois, a little bit punk without the alienation.
without the full presentation, music etc. it really is just speculation, and with comme des garcons it's always seven layers deep. anyways, after seeing that full presenation and reading what has been said...it's nice to know that all this punk/ youthful energy isn't so much about bristling at the state of the world, although it addresses that still with the crowns and references to westwood, native tartans etc.., but it actually has some uplifting, encouraging things to say.
i really like the wrapping... as helena was saying that it is basically the most straight forward method of dress, no frills, no pleats etc... draped and dictated by the wearer. i think it does seem a lot like the lumpy collection ngth posted, the lumps alluding to a knapsack for carrying belongings on your back. i guess if i were to strip it down to what her main message is: wear whatever you need to wear, irregular looking, a bit unpolished whatever and feel good about it...the authority of anything else, the high echelon taste, is overruled by the individual. yep, overall very unbourgeois, a little bit punk without the alienation.
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