Comme des Garçons Women's SS13 - Paris

[Patroklus]

It's one of those things were I've seen her do it before but I still kind of want the clothes because they are so neat.

[Dane]

It's one of those things were I've seen her do it before but I still kind of want the clothes because they are so neat.

Exactly. I hate to use the word "trademark", because it's technically inaccurate (but for some reason socially acceptable when discussing such things), but sometimes when you have an idea, why not continue to perfect it?

[dantebykiko]

video. love how hypnotizing(thats how my friend described it via email) its the beginning with all the same slow walking white looks and then "boom" change of music and black looks with fast walking models. very well staged. would love to see the garments in person.

Comme des Garçons Spring - Summer 2013 from PREMICES FILMS on Vimeo.

[Dane]

Woah, nobody seems to like this. Now that I've seen it on a proper screen I like it even more: the way silhouettes are obtained is just so different from the usual tailoring. They are not only born out of the pressed and crumbled up textures (so that there is such a contrast between the silhouette, and the integral parts), but it seems they are made out of pieces that have been cut for the usual dresses and jackets, and then folded up into something entirely different, without even the hems being finished, so that they look like being held by glue or an invisible hand, and as if they're gonna unfold and fall apart once this hand let go of them. This is, from my point of view, a definite highlight in this fashion week, something different that makes me look further, explore and wonder how, where, what.
As for the wearability issue, that's never been a real problem for CDG collections, many of the pieces that come out in stores are simplified versions of the stuff that comes on the runway. What matters here is the approach, the idea that's so interesting that the whole talk about wearability becomes one big: who cares.

Don't get me wrong...I like very much...but it's not "new", which is something craved in the fashion world. It will still sell like crazy, which is really what matters, because it deserves to.

[Dane]

c'mon...you can't say that none of this is familiar! the misplaced sleeves, padded lumps, jumbled gathering...this has all bee seen in various iterations in past collections. Not to mention the selection of fabrics, colours, and mixture of textures.

CDG has created a well-oiled machine based on these concepts. The brilliance is that while once haphazard, the garments are ultimately precision, perfected, so while I have recognize many elements, I still am happy to see the process carry on with tweaks and overall developments.

Either way, I have a feeling we're both making the same point, but from different perspectives. :)

[nqth]

i think it might be unfair to say that it was done before, but of course it's not something new totally. she seems to add some layers onto things that she did before, using same techniques, sometimes the same philosophy (such as "deconstructing" the process of design and manufacturing clothes). this collection looks similar to some previous (displaced sleeves, half clothes...) but the draping and displacing used to form some kind of a "beautiful", "artistic" shapes, or idea that is not very close to designing clothes (such as androgyny). this one is different imo, she used raw clothes made by toile (cathy horyn quoted her that she like the toile bc it gives pure shapes), and arrange them in a more chaotic, random way. and she fitted the clothes on the models afterward. so it's very "drunken tailoring" :), but at the same time, brilliant and refers directly to the art of clothes making. i love it.

btw the long blond hair is for lady gaga isn't it? ;)

[dantebykiko]

i hope kristen mcmenamy.

[Fuuma]

^I'm inclined to agree. It looks really messy and haphazard here...I can only assume that key to the concept is buried somewhere in the construction, which is impossible to discern from these pics.
btw, according to Cathy, the concept was "Crush."

The only thing we can conclude from these shots is that we'll have to see the clothes themselves, this could possibly be a treasure trove of great women's pieces as for the show it looks like every other "hey look at the kooky Japanese designer, so great!" type of show out there and is blah.

[laika]

Faust says that Dior is dull (which is a stateable view, although I rather liked it, unlike his Helmut denim jacket which looks very dated) but this is what i find really dull. She seems to be so bored with clothes that reactionary stuff like this is all she can come up with. With a few execptions, like the last collection, most of this could have been taken from just about any of her last batch of efforts - pinning and twisting and scrunching and displacing cloth, and the odd sleeve, randomly onto the body. But mainly, there's nothing here for any "real" person (cf Gaga, ADR). Whatever comme used to be about it did leave ideas behind that could be adapted for normal intelligent women. I don't think this does - it's just grumpy showing off.

that thing was so bad....
but i like the idea of Raf wearing his DNA on his back for this occasion, there's something appropriate about it. and it's such a geeky Raf thing to do it so literally...

rilu, I don't dislike the collection.
It doesn't grab me visually the way that her best collections do, but I think these clothes will be "good to think with," if you get my drift. She has most certainly used this technique of crushing elements of garments onto or into other garments before (the witches collection, from I think 2004? comes to mind), but it's true that the construction will probably be different and the concept therefore distinct, in person.

[Rosenrot]

Rilu, I'm with you on this. I absolutely love the collection even though they are so intense, especially the last 3-4 looks. I'm dying to see the pieces in person just to examine the intricacies of the garments, but at the same time I can't help but wonder how much her pattern makers/cutters are paid to put up with her crazy ideas.

Also when it comes to CdG, wearability is very much subjective.

[Fade to Black]

i like this, it is quite a contrarian collection and hence very "Comme." I can see Heirloom in some of the longer pieces.

[Faust]

i like this, it is quite a contrarian collection and hence very "Comme." I can see Heirloom in some of the longer pieces.

But isn't the point of Comme, as others point out when they say that this feels BTDT, that there is no such thing as very Comme?

[Fade to Black]

right, on an aesthetic level i'd agree. But it is the contrarian spirit i detect in these clothes, their refusal of taste and as a result that certain inscrutable aura to them/this approach when putting out a show, that I distinguish as being Comme.

[rider]

i see robots.

[genevieveryoko]

But isn't the point of Comme, as others point out when they say that this feels BTDT, that there is no such thing as very Comme?

i disagree...