Rei Kawakubo

We are beginning to think that Rei Kawakubo may be too much of a literalist for our tastes or at very least a little too ham handed with the metaphors as her Spring 2009 collection entitled A Black Tomorrow had just a little too much "let them eat cake" imagery for us to stomach. Billowing Marie Antoinette hairdos do nothing for us even when the obvious quip about entitlement, excess and fallen empires reaches out to an editor begging us to make a joke. But the tragedy of it all is that tomorrow has come faster than we thought and like the impertinent princess we are ill equipped to cope with its consequences.

Puffy first estate creations (in contrast to her decidedly Tiers Etat H&M disaster) in somber black do not appeal to us and while we appreciate the intense workmanship involved in the collection we can only hang our heads at the ultimate thesis. Perhaps we are reading too much into the in your face message, maybe we should focus instead on the cut outs, the fringes, the capelets, delicious jackets or even the soccer ball tops but with the harsh reality of tomorrow already upon us we are finding it more than difficult.

Its going to be a fall full of Rei Kawakubo thanks to her high profile collaborations. While the Third Estate has to wait till November for her collection with H&M. But her work with Louis Vuitton is making its debut next Wednesday in a temporary concept store in Tokyo designed by Rei herself. Because its not a money making venture for Vuitton supposedly (har har, though it does "quietly mark its 30th anniversary in Japan) you can only place your orders at this pop up but you will not be back to get your bags till 2009. If we were planning a trip to Tokyo anytime in the near future we might actually consider buying this "noodle" handle bag.

Vogue and and the New York Times remember modeling maverick Jerry Ford.

Form versus function frustrates athletes. The sister debate, modesty, is also gaining some traction.

Reports are coming out of WWD Magic that buyers are sticking to comparatively cheaper American made lines.

Charles Nolan is doing his part to keep his partner Andrew Tobias, The treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, hip despite the best efforts of handlers.

J. Brand Jeans and Topshop are working together for a lower priced denim collaboration coming out November 30th. The jeans are to be named after New York neighborhoods. The skinny jean, one of J Brand's classics, is to be named the Brooklyn. We would have gone with the Williamsburg.

>> When it was announced that Rei Kawakubo would be lending her Comme des Garcons aesthetic to H&M this fall, questions were raised, specifically: Would the avant-garde Comme look be compromised in translation by the mass retailer?

"Certainly we're opposite," Kawakubo told W Magazine of the project. "But . . . this idea of collaborating with designers—that’s something I can identify with."

Based on the until now unseen pictures of the collaboration, the signature Comme deconstructed jackets, dropped-crotch pants, polka dots, and predominantly black palette are all there.  But compared to the more mainstream sensibilities of past H&M collaborators — Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld, and Roberto Cavalli, with the exception being Viktor & Rolf — this line is definitely a departure.  That's not to say it won't still create a frenzy . . . the crowd may just be a little different than in the past.
*image: source

>> IN PRODUCTION —The first shots of Rei Kawakubo's Comme des Garcons designs for H&M are starting to appear, and the collection is "mostly black and with Japanese tomboy airs." There also seem to be lots of polka dots, but my bets are on this "showpiece" coat-dress (left) to be the sell-out, based on what's showed up so far. [Fashionista, SuperFuture]

>> IN PRODUCTION —What do you get when you cross Comme des Garcons with Louis Vuitton Monogram?  A Speedy bag with four sets of handles.  This bag, plus five other limited-editions, are part of a collaboration that debuts in Tokyo in September. [Bag Snob]

UPDATE: Four of the others can be seen here.

»Rei Kawakubo has designed a red, pie-shaped shop concept that will house her Comme des Garcons for H&M collection when it comes out in early November; She also chose Peter Lindbergh to photograph Missy Rayder and others for the campaign [WWD]

»Harper's Bazaar brought a cadre of four staffers to couture, while Kate Lanphear is representing Elle alone [FWD]

»Alice Dellal nabbed a MNG Jeans campaign for Fall [Fashionista]

»Nick Knight has asked the likes of Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Naomi Campbell, and Giles Deacon to spin records live on Showstudio.com over 3 days starting July 9 [WWD]

»Karl Lagerfeld seemed to smile in approval at Kris van Assche's latest outing for Dior Homme yesterday [Guardian UK]

»Natasa Vojnovic has gone blonde (NSFW) [Supreme Being]

»Hye Rim Park did recently get married; Vogue Korea has a photo feature story [TFS]

»LVMH won a counterfeit lawsuit against eBay, so the auction site has to cough up $63.2 million [The Cut]