Junya Watanabe Women's SS11 Paris

[Fade to Black]

I loved this, to me it's a real testament to the inexhaustability of Junya's imagination and hand - he takes familiar settings and themes and works them to a point where it's beaten into the ground so deep it's come out to some other end that was unrealized before. He works within several key elements and motifs by now recognizable to the point one could say they are "Junya" and not "nautical", "army" or "preppy" anymore, at least not in the sense they are conventionally categorized. Also there is such a great ease and fluidity to Junya's womenswear that is consistently missing from the mens', which always came off a bit too staid and stiff for me despite the technical mastery. This is perfectly wearable.

[Johnny]

I absolutely LOVE this. Some of the cutting looks to be quite extraordinary. For example this



is, I think, one piece (apart from the trousers). It looks deceptively simple, but it's a beautiful, thoughtful, subtle, wearable collection. I bought a book on Japanese fashion at the weekend, and there were pictures in it of Junya's early collections, which were much more immediately eye-catching. I've said this before, but I think he takes a lot of elements from his menswear into his collections for women, but still tries to find new forms and techniques in the execution. It's much less show-y now. Wouldn't look as good in a museum, but I suspect that's kind of the point. I will be trying my best to get my wife to wear as much of this as possibe!

[Faust]

Oh, no, Johnny loves a Junya collection! What's this world coming to?!

[lowrey]

lol

thanks Brian

[chameleon]

The stripes may be somewhat overdone, but as far as cutting, shapes and silhouettes go I think this is breathtakingly beautiful. From this week's collections, this is probably top 2 together with Chalayan for me.

[droogist]

its a real pity, I can imagine that for example this would look a hundred times better if it wasn't for the stripes.

this, to me, is one of the few looks where the stripes look alright.

But this, this, and this wouldn't be nearly as good without the stripes, no?

I don't mind the stripes in general - they've always been one of Junya's signatures. It's definitely a cute collection. I'm not exactly moved by it, though...

[lowrey]

I agree on the second and third look, they look good with the stripes. but in the first one the cut is completely overshadowed by the pattern imo.

[Heirloom]

Junya is my favourite when it comes to imaginative ways of draping. extremely skilled. i wish so bad he did for men what he does for women.

[Fade to Black]

Junya's menswear shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as his work for women. I see it as the coolhype trendticker division of his label.

[Faust]

Meh. We've discussed it all before. Junya menswear is what it is - says so in the manifesto on the blue label and that's what he does and does it well.

[lmaozedong]

I really enjoy this collection. The stripes are a bit visually overwhelming but I actually like the effect they have on the silhouettes. A couple have mentioned that they wish this collection was the same without so many stripes but I think it's the stripes exactly that makes the shapes of this collection truly stand out

[genevieveryoko]

http://www.style.com/slideshows/2010/fashionshows/S2011RTW/JNWATNBE/RUNWAY/00040m.jpg

http://www.style.com/slideshows/2010/fashionshows/S2011RTW/JNWATNBE/RUNWAY/00050m.jpg

these two are particularly beautiful to me, after seeing them I thought about them all day. But I don't appreciate the nautical print at all, it just seems too goofy.

[rider]

i think junya kicked ass and said "this is how you do stripes".

[Who?]

In some cases the stripes do a wonderful job accentuating the intricate cuts, this is something I would expect from Junya. Where the collection disappoints is in the pieces where the stripes are uniformly sized and all in alignment, the opposite effect is achieved, concealing the pattern and making the piece flat. This flattening could have been used in a interesting manner on a complex design, using the stripes to tone down the shape but instead it was used on the most basic pieces making them boring.

[BUMMER]

... i wish so bad he did for men what he does for women.

I agree..
Love the translucent blacks in the last section of this show, particularly the first double-breasted one.
And also agree with whoever mentioned that there is a subversive tone to his use of stripes. Slightly reminds me of one of the recent Spring collections by Bernhard Willhelm esp. the clashing patterns of varied size stripes with bits of dying on the edges.
I know affection for Willhelm is controversial on this site, but I can also say the same thing Heirloom said of Junya for Wilhelm: I often wish he would make less of those quirky play outfits for men and more of the thoughtful/interesting patterns, shapes, layering and subtle color work that he does for his women's collection.