A Global Outlook : Fashion: Japanese designers make a splash in Paris. But it’s the French who impress with an Eastern Europe influence.
The Japanese presence at the fall ready-to-wear collections has never been more apparent. But the clothes making the strongest impression are by French designers who relate fashion to current events in Eastern Europe.
Japanese-born Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garcons was among the first big names to show.
The disheveled look ruled her runway on Thursday. Clothes appeared to be put on wrong, so that extra necklines dangled from the bodice or the waistline of day wear cut from a fabric that resembled cotton mattress padding, and evening wear in pastel velvet.
The look conveyed an ineptitude that was humorous but unsettling. After all, these clothes are meant for grown women.
At Yohji Yamamoto Show, circus music set the tone for tuxedo jackets with tails in front, not in back, and art-to-wear evening dresses that looked like a child’s collage made from paper grocery bags.
After a number of such eccentricities came down the runway, a classic Western-tailored pants suit sparked a burst of applause from the audience.
That said a lot about what hits and what misses the mark this season. Anything too contrived, too consciously arty, looks wrong.
Issey Miyake’s work always straddles the line between fashion and art. This time art won. Most of the clothes were too sculptural, not wearable enough. What did work were his long evening dresses with lantern-shaped pleats and soft, folded origami-like collars. What absolutely did not work were his stretchy unitards with cone-shaped padding.
Hanae Mori, who has maintained her business in Tokyo and Paris for three decades, hosted an exhibit of 35 years of her work, held Thursday evening, in the Pavillon des Arts, near the Contemporary Art Museum, Centre Pompidou.
In the beginning, she was a definite minority among Paris-based Japanese designers. But not anymore. This season close to a dozen Japanese will show their collections here before they take them to Tokyo to exhibit in May. Most designers in the group have boutiques in both cities.
Thierry Mugler was the first to show a collection with an Eastern European flavor. It was all about Berlin before the war. Body-gripping stretch pants; strapless, lattice-back tops; torso-molded jackets, most of them in black, recalled Berlin cabarets and Berthol Brecht, as well as Barbarella, the Jane Fonda movie character.
In the showroom after the event, the clothes looked comparatively tame--but still not exactly standard fare. The curves turned out to be built into the Space-Age fabrics with enough body of their own to stand up like furniture.
Jean Paul Gaultier continued the Eastern Europe idea on Friday night with one of the most creative collections of this season. His refugee ensembles recalled history book accounts of Poles, Russians and Czechs fleeing home and Adolf Hitler, taking only what they could carry.
Included were marabou-feather boas wrapped around man-tailored, tweed pants suits. There were ski sweaters and ski boots layered under sequined evening sheaths, and Fair Isle unitards topped by satin boleros.
These clothes told far more than just fashion stories about fabric mixes or day-into-evening dressing. They spoke about a moment in history that Gaultier obviously finds moving.
His intelligence, tempered by his obvious sensitivity to the subject, gave this show the feeling of a tribute.
And for all their eccentric, eclectic appearance on the runway, the clothes were classics. The gabardine and wool tweed pants suits in particular were exceptional.
Karl Lagerfeld was among those whose inspiration came from closer to home. He showed feminine, modern-minded clothes but made them look like the latest from the streets of Paris.
Jackets in warm shades of red, blue and violet, as well as black, seemed inspired by 18th-Century men’s wear. Many were almost knee-length, nipped at the waist, flared at the hem, with touches of black velvet at the collar or cuff. He showed them over very short pleated skirts or leggings for a lively but still elegant effect.
As if to disguise their virtues, the clothes were accessorized with some too-hip, too-aggressive details: Cuffed, over-the-knee boots the models stomped around in; extra-bold scale silver brooches and bangles, and black or blond jaw-length wigs, teased into a snarl.
Claude Montana dedicated his show Saturday to Sgt. Pepper of Beatle’s fame and pop artist Andy Warhol--two icons from the 1960s. Defining this collection were tent dresses with bell-shaped sleeves; stretch pants; full, short coats, and acid color combinations, such as violet with lime. Almost every outfit began with stretch pants. Most often they were topped by knee-length coats. Patent leather collars looked especially new, and at the same time, very ‘60s. It was a good collection.
