Marching To A Different Beat

Rei Kawakubo is one of the most highly respected fashion designers in the industry. No one would even dare question a single collection from the designer. Comme des Garcons simply exists in it’s own sphere, elevated from every other label.

The CDG aesthetic is never changing. It’s seasonless and enduring. But I have to admit, it’s a brand I take entirely for granted. I never look at the collections that often because I know what to expect and that’s not a bad thing, it’s in fact quite comforting in a way, that in this escalating industry where speed is becoming more and more the focus there is a little corner of the industry that is unaffected by the constant need to see something new or fresh. Rei just keeps on keeping on.

After seeing snippets of her FW19 collection I felt compelled to explore it further. It’s typical CDG but there is something much more enthralling for me in this collection. It’s somehow darker, more aggressive. There seems to be lots of military references, but not the gentrified military we usually see, but rather modern warfare references such as tactical vests and bullet proof armour, and the fishnet looks more like the netting soldiers have to crawl though during training.

Military wasn’t only narrative here; there seems to be Victorian references too, from the taffeta ruffles and bows to the lush purple velvet.