Interviews with Comme des Garcons' legendary designer Rei Kawakubo are few and far between, and she offered an explanation as to why in the Fall 2013 issue of Style.com/Print.
Textured hair may have been a huge trend at Fall 2013 NYFW, but Comme des Garçons' Fall 2013 show in Paris was all about textured makeup. Hair was tucked away under a beehive-inspired hairpiece, and the focus was thrown onto the makeup . . . or lack thereof. Bare faces were accentuated with black makeup that appeared sponge-painted on, calling to mind the soot-covered visage of a turn-of-the-century chimney sweep.
The look: Elaborate hairpieces, bare makeup, sponge-painted black accents.
Color scheme: Black, white, and yellow-brown.
Who would wear it: We're not sure anyone would be able to pull this look off . . . for brave ladies only.
These stories and more in our daily news roundup.
These stories and more in our daily news roundup.
Photo via Lemlem.
The latest designer partnership to make the news isn't a mass market effort. Instead, Rei Kawakubo has channeled what she calls an "immense respect for Hermès' tradition and artisanal know-how" into two capsule collections of carrés, the French company's iconic silk scarves.
"During this joint project, rather than being guided by the idea of the scarf as it is worn, I became interested instead in the beautiful 'artworks' that the designs on Hermès carrés represent, and I sought to change them by adding elements," Kawakubo said. "By combining them with abstract images, we have transformed the carré and created a unique object."
Both collections, one featuring black and white designs and one with colorful geometric patterns, will be available in February. The five black and white scarves will retail for €380 (or $493 at current exchange) at the Comme des Garcons stores in the Aoyama neighborhood of Tokyo, and in New York and Paris. Six color scarves will range from €380 to €1,600 (about $2,076) at the Dover Street Markets in London and Tokyo.
Kawakubo is noted for a number of high-profile collaborations with brands like H&M and Louis Vuitton, but an Hermès product partnership is harder to come by. Perhaps that's changing, though: news also broke today that Hermès is lending one of its scarf designs to the French postal service's annual Valentine's Day stamp collection.
Related: A Look Back at Rei Kawakubo's Comme des Garcons
Photo courtesy of Comme des Garcons
"The more people that are afraid when they see new creation, the happier I am," says Rei Kawakubo in a rare new Q&A. Perhaps that's why the reclusive designer, who never makes public appearances and speaks to the press infrequently, isn't afraid to pass judgment on popular fashion.
"I think the media has some responsibility to bear for people becoming more conservative," Kawakubo told WWD. "Many parts of the media have created the situation where uninteresting fashion can thrive."
The rest of the interview is similarly blunt. Read on for more of Kawakubo's deep-cutting pronouncements.
On the inspiration for her Spring 2013 and Fall 2012 collections: "I can honestly never remember clearly what I was thinking about at the time. I was only trying to make something completely new. There is never more meaning than that. I was not thinking about the age of Internet when I was making the Fall-Winter 2012 collection."
On whether business is more important in fashion than creativity: "Yes, it's true . . . And it's weakening the power of creation. This is the worst of situations."
On her design ethos: "My intention is not to make clothes. My head would be too restricted if I only thought about making clothes."
On selling garments vs. making a statement: "Every day I think about the selling, but when doing a collection, all I want is for people to feel the power."
"Crush," said Rei Kawakubo of her Spring 2013 collection for Comme des Garcons. "Energy explosion."
The show — and the clothes themselves — seemed like a reaction to Kawakubo's last collection, which flattened its pieces to two dimensions. This season compressed different bits of clothing together to create a multilayered effect. The first looks that came down the runway were made of white muslin, at times resembling different design-room patterns for jackets stacked one on top of the other. The models — all of whom wore sculptural headpieces that appeared to be made from found objects and crushed bits of metal — in this first section of the show came down the runway at a snail's pace.
Kawakubo's energy shifted (or exploded, to use her terminology) when models wearing black dresses came down the runway at a quick trot. These pieces subscribed to the same everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mentality as the preceding garb, but here there were shots of red or purple velvet throughout the looks. The show ended in white-clad models walking slowly once more, but these looks had a more striking energy: the bodice of one dress seemed to be a historical survey of women's sleeves.
Welcome to Friday, the end of the week, the beginning of the weekend, and, most importantly, the magical day where we reveal CelebStyle's top stars of the week. Our winners really turned it out this week from mixed-print masterpieces to fresh updates on classic color combos to Western-inspired ensembles we are totally coveting. Diane Kruger fused stripes, florals, and polka dots in Paris, Selita Ebanks accented her streamlined NYC look with snakeskin pumps and a neon green Marc by Marc Jacobs clutch, while Camila Alves went Western in a purple floral-accent dress and embroidered Mexicana cowboy boots. And let's not forget Kim Kardashian, Anne Hathaway, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Alba, and Michelle Williams, who donned spectacular styles of their own. Take a much-deserved break for your busy Friday to get a closer look at our trendsetting standouts, then shop their looks for yourself.
Michelle Williams spent time with daughter Matilda in LA wearing a quirky cute ensemble that would be perfect for work. She paired a collared, sleeveless polka-dot blouse with black ankle-crop trousers, then finished off with flat ankle-strap sandals, black round sunglasses, and this Comme des Garçons blue wallet ($205). While her exact top is not available online, this Forever 21 sheer polka-dot blouse ($14) has the same effect. Match it with black pants for the office, then wear it with leather shorts for an evening out.
Comme des Garcons designer Rei Kawakubo will be honored with the International award at this Monday's CFDA Awards, and already the industry is getting a head start on celebrating.
Earlier this week, Style.com published a tribute in which notable fashionables — including Taylor Tomasi Hill, Shane Gabier, and Chris Peters — discuss their love for the avant-garde label. Then on Wednesday, Cathy Horyn offered her perspective on Kawakubo's 40-plus-year career. "No living designer, with the exception of Azzedine Alaïa, is held in higher esteem by her peers, and none has enriched our spirit in so many original and confounding ways," Horyn wrote. In an attempt to shed light on Kawakubo's creative process, Horyn also reprinted an email from the designer, an excerpt of which is below:
"My design process never starts or finishes. I am always hoping to find something through the mere act of living my daily life. I do not work from a desk, and do not have an exact starting point for any collection. There is never a mood board, I do not go through fabric swatches, I do not sketch, there is no eureka moment, there is no end to the search for something new. As I live my normal life, I hope to find something that click starts a thought, and then something totally unrelated would arise, and then maybe a third unconnected element would come from nowhere. Often in each collection, there are three or so seeds of things that come together accidentally to form what appears to everyone else as a final product, but for me it is never ending. There is never a moment when I think, 'this is working, this is clear.' If for one second I think something is finished, the next thing would be impossible to do."
Kawakubo will not be in New York to accept her award Monday, but she has asked her longtime friend filmmaker John Waters to present and accept the award on her behalf. In the slideshow, a look back at some of our favorite looks from recent Comme des Garcons collections.
