Tao S/S 2022 Tokyo

[YohjiAddict]

Fashion Snap

 

[YohjiAddict]

Fashion Snap

 

[MulletProof]

wait.. WHAT.. Tao? Tao Kurihara? back? since when? why/how? is this a warm-up? back for good? so many questions.. excuse me as I get my blood pressure under control lol..


Uh.. most of it says little to me but who cares when you have promising looks like this and she's back (she is, right? )

 

[YohjiAddict]

It's really great news that she's back under her own name but I mean she didn't left for another dimension! She closed her label and took charge of the Tricot line which has now been renamed Tao! She actually chose the mainly white palette to reflect the theme of rebirth.

For a clearer explanation: Tao RTW Spring 2022 – WWD

Edit: That outfit is so good! It's like a wearable interpretation of the Victorian Punk theme at CdG's last fall collection. For those that keep repeating that the mainline is useless now...

 

[MulletProof]

^ she just was in a different dimension back in the days of her own label.. just so romantic and dreamy. I’m pretty sure I’ve been told before where she was but.. besides forgetting/not caring, it’s just not the same, I can’t even tell collections apart with these lines…

I’m not sure how I feel about this being a label that’s been renamed in her favor (is that what it is?!).. sounds like a negotiation and not the revival of her own line.. but then, time will tell!.. looking at this makes me wish Inaya, kiddokiddo, wheneveriwakeup and all these Tao lovers were still posting..

(sorry if there’s yet another typo here, struggling to edit/type on my phone today for some reason lol)

 

[bc collector]

Good news for everybody (apart from Simone Rocha).

 

[runner]

tao has never worked with rei.
tao team consists of 10 persons.
it is not until the show that rei sees tao's work.
if rei thinks it leaves something to be desired, she tells tao about that.
if it leaves nothing to be desired, rei says nothing.
this time she was silent. and tao thinks rei liked it.














images from
spur
cokurico

 

[Uemarasan]

Tao is back and I am here for it!

I can understand the name change. In certain aspects, the vestiges of tricot remain in this collection, but there is so much here of what made Tao so magical back then peeking through that makes this the most exciting news in fashion in quite a while. Really looking forward to where she takes this. And how wonderful to have both Noir and Tao taking the reins from Rei.

 

[softgrey]

i could cry...

yayyyyyyyy....
she deserves to have it under her own name...
...

maybe fashion isn't dead after all?

 

[softgrey]

Good news for everybody (apart from Simone Rocha).

...

too true~!
hahahahahha....

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Ah, looks who's back from the dead!

It looks better than I remember it being. It's lovely but...

I don't know if it's because I've spent too much time lurking at DSM but I'm a bit bored to death with that same template ALL the CDG lines seem to riff on.

You know: Peter pan collars, ruffles, trapeze jackets and tops, A-line skirts, balloon and cap sleeves, lace overlay, schoolgirl yadda yadda yadda...

Is that look so in demand that they really need like 6 labels to cater to it?

 

[tricotineacetat]

She

Ah, looks who's back from the dead!

It looks better than I remember it being. It's lovely but...

I don't know if it's because I've spent too much time lurking at DSM but I'm a bit bored to death with that same template ALL the CDG lines seem to riff on.

You know: Peter pan collars, ruffles, trapeze jackets and tops, A-line skirts, balloon and cap sleeves, lace overlay, schoolgirl yadda yadda yadda...

Is that look so in demand that they really need like 6 labels to cater to it?

I will pick up on that, confirming that I will yet have to see a girl or woman in continental Europe, and anywhere I've travelled to so far other than Japan, that dresses in this kind of way (similar to how I don't really see women dressing in the aesthetics of Simone Rocha, anywhere outside the East Asian hemisphere)... That's not to say it's not well designed and executed, but to me this look feels almost a bit costume-y on the majority of women.

 

[runner]

tao has cute things indeed, or things that set themselves up against the assertion like ornament is crime. but it is also full of cool clothes you could wear easily.

maybe the tenor of CdG (especially the main line) is - nevertheless.
sweet on the rack, but bitter in the street.
servile at a glance, but even insolent if you actually try it on.

some from tao this season







artwork

 

[runner]

it seems that what is in the look which Mullet was referring to is a coat (what they call dresscoat).

 

[Deleted member 7575]

She


I will pick up on that, confirming that I will yet have to see a girl or woman in continental Europe, and anywhere I've travelled to so far other than Japan, that dresses in this kind of way (similar to how I don't really see women dressing in the aesthetics of Simone Rocha, anywhere outside the East Asian hemisphere)... That's not to say it's not well designed and executed, but to me this look feels almost a bit costume-y on the majority of women.

Here's the list of what I can remember:

Comme des Garcons
Comme des Garcons Comme des Garcons
Comme des Garcons Girl
Comme des Garcons Tricot
Comme des Garcons Black
Comme des Garcons Noir Kei Ninomiya
Comme des Garcons Tao
And you could put Junya Watanabe in there but it seems distinct enough not to.

They differ slightly in price and I think they each have a strategic focus (in the way that CDG Shirt was created specifically to be produced in France so they could sell a range to the Europeans without the prices being jacked up by import duties and taxes and whatnot). But, for the most part, there is a huge amount of overlap. Maybe I am too thick to appreciate the nuance that distinguishes them.

In New York, there are a lot of older women who follow CDG like a religion. They have big round glasses, funny hats, asymmetrical bangs, poufy skirts, polka dots, clunky derbies and boots, they shop at IF and DSM and they seem to hang out in packs. Maybe they're a global tribe and I am only seeing only one part of a much bigger whole.

As heavily as Simone Rocha draws on the CDG DNA, I do think they're slightly different customers. An Italian or Jewish princess from Long Island or New Jersey won't buy CDG but she might buy Simone Rocha. SR is maybe for the girl who wants to wear CDG but is actually more comfortable in Oscar De La Renta. She had a moment in NYC when she opened her store but I feel like maybe the pandemic has slowed her momentum.

Anyways, back to TAO, I wonder where this collection stands in that universe of frothy petticoats, lace, bowties, and doll clothes.

 

[runner]

being the breadwinner in the universe, this was tricot's mission.
the most extensive in terms of point of sale.
most of the collection had to be easy to wear and most of the prices had to be good (you know, seams, fabrics, etc).
but for some who missed "tao comme des garcons", they made something named "tricot special" that was small part of the tricot comme des garcons collection shown on the runway. (it mattered little if tao comme des garcons was a good seller or not. the point was to nurture another creative designer.)
and practically this line "tao" could be tricot comme des garcons with the proportion of tricot special expanded.
actually tao team members are the same as tricot.
what is being demanded of tao kurihara and the team now is to go on the same scale as tricot. so it's not easy.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

being the breadwinner in the universe, this was tricot's mission.
the most extensive in terms of point of sale.
most of the collection had to be easy to wear and most of the prices had to be good (you know, seams, fabrics, etc).
but for some who missed "tao comme des garcons", they made something named "tricot special" that was small part of the tricot comme des garcons collection shown on the runway. (it mattered little if tao comme des garcons was a good seller or not. the point was to nurture another creative designer.)
and practically this line "tao" could be tricot comme des garcons with the proportion of tricot special expanded.
actually tao team members are the same as tricot.
what is being demanded of tao kurihara and the team now is to go on the same scale as tricot. so it's not easy.

Very interesting. It looks like what was shown here as "Tao" sits in stores now with the "Tricot" label.

Tricot Comme Des Garçons for Women SS22 Collection | SSENSE

 

[runner]

some things I should have written

"Our business model, roughly speaking, was to make money in Japan and invest it in shows and exhibitions in Paris. The more buzz the shows in Paris generated, the more sales in Japan would increase."
what yohji mentioned, looking back on things around 2008.

such could still be the case with comme, to some extent. (not true of sacai etc, off-topic here anyway)
rei, junya, and kei ninomiya (tao kurihara for tao comme des garcons used to) go to paris by charter. (except for the pandemic)
but tricot had been shown in tokyo, their own aoyama head office. and this "tao" as well, so far.
the audience have been professionals, mostly japanese buyers, actually shop owners.

tao comme des garcons turned out to be the most expensive label in the universe back then. maybe for its artisanal nature.
rei let tao play without usual restrictions.

the coat, Mullet's fave one, costs double what tricot ones used to.

 

[Drusilla_]

She


I will pick up on that, confirming that I will yet have to see a girl or woman in continental Europe, and anywhere I've travelled to so far other than Japan, that dresses in this kind of way (similar to how I don't really see women dressing in the aesthetics of Simone Rocha, anywhere outside the East Asian hemisphere)... That's not to say it's not well designed and executed, but to me this look feels almost a bit costume-y on the majority of women.

That's the thing, it's not always worn as a full look - that long skirt? Is surprisingly versatile, so are the jackets with tailoring/more feminine elements. CdG devotees of course wear them as full looks because it's comfortable, practical and feminine but can have almost a rebellious element, I see a spirit like that in Molly Goddard's earlier collections, like the ugliness and exaggeration is very feminine but also not sexualised.

I may be biased because I'm sitting here in a very conservative and very much not east Asian office wearing a long dark A-line CdG skirt that is
A) technically sober enough in design to pass as officewear
B) technically "feminine" - it has a bit ruffle at the end, I cannot be criticised as "trying to dress like a man"
C) modest - the long length covers most of my leg (I don't care about this but it's a useful feature)
D) comfortable and practical - this was my 'pandemic skirt' - others had elasticated trousers, I wore this skirt with a stretchy waist and two deep pockets in a fabric that works for both summer and winter. It's not body-conscious either, the design leaves space between my skin and the skirt even if it doesn't make me look small.

This is just to illustrate that elements of the Comme look can absolutely pass in the 'real world' outside east Asia without remark, it just depends on how they're worn. I think that will be true for Tao too, those dark/white palettes are quite versatile and easy to mix into an existing wardobe especially for people whose work has a little flexibility about what they wear. I can see it with some of those jackets, certainly.

 

[runner]

on a related note,
by means of deficiency or excessiveness, rei stops something achieving itself.
it may sometimes be harmony, and at other times beauty, conventional one.
likewise, she didn't use sugary elements because she wanted CdG to be sugary.
it was like negating the sweet by means of the sweet.
this is what she must mean when she said "sweeter than sweet."

yukio nakagawa, an inspiration to CdG, an artist who worked with flowers







gallery-kojima
phototown
komiyama