Comme des Garçons Spring 2009 Ready-to-Wear Collection on Style.com: Runway Review

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Comme des Garçons Spring 2009 Ready-to-Wear

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PARIS, September 30, 2008

By Sarah Mower

What is the future of black? That's the philosophical question Rei Kawakubo says she was pondering while designing her Spring collection. Since Comme des Garçons virtually invented black as the non-color of fashion in the eighties, that's probably a logical line of thinking for the woman whose original mind has such a widespread influence over generations of designers. Recent collections of hers have triggered outbreaks of bright, clashing, cartoonish color and multi-textured, perforated layerings that have been openly quoted by Marc Jacobs, and have trickled far down the fashion food chain.

But now Kawakubo is back to black, presenting it almost as a mathematical treatise in geometric volumes. Hexagonal cutting was the central motif, shaped into poufy geodesic tops and cocooning skirts. Using vinyl leather, she patchworked mini hoodies that looked almost like deconstructed soccer balls, and then started to add decoration: frilled edges on stiff plastic tectonic shoulder plates, transparent cellophane underskirts. By the end, a more organic feeling was breaking through: petaled tufts of tattered chiffon spreading over back-to-front jackets, and then whole dresses constructed like topiary. Underneath it all, there were wide shorts and regular trousers and flat lace-up shoes that offered a less experimental baseline for daily dressing. But did the collection end up answering Kawakubo's original question? That's something only she can know, and she's not one to spell out an insight. All that's certain is that she's set out yet another puzzle here that many designing eyes will be trying to figure out in seasons to come.

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A.F. Vandevorst	Abaeté	ADAM
Adidas by Stella McCartney	Akris	Alberta Ferretti
Alessandro Dell'Acqua	Alexander McQueen	Alexander Wang
Alexandre Herchcovitch	Andrew Gn	Anna Sui
Ann Demeulemeester	Anne Valérie Hash	Antonio Berardi
Aquascutum	Aquilano.Rimondi	Armand Basi One

Badgley Mischka	Balenciaga	Balmain
Band of Outsiders	Barbara Tfank	Basso & Brooke
BCBG Max Azria	Behnaz Sarafpour	Benjamin Cho
Betsey Johnson	Blumarine	Bottega Veneta
Brian Reyes	Bruno Pieters	Burberry Prorsum

Calvin Klein Collection	Carlos Miele	Carolina Herrera
Celine	Chado Ralph Rucci	Chalayan
Chanel	Charles Anastase	Charles Nolan
Chloé	Chris Benz	Christian Dior
Christian Lacroix	Christopher Kane	Collette Dinnigan
Comme des Garçons	Costello Tagliapietra	Costume National
Cynthia Rowley	Cynthia Steffe

D&G	Danielle Scutt	Daughters
Dennis Basso	Derek Lam	Derercuny
Devi Kroell	Diane von Furstenberg	Diesel Black Gold
DKNY	Dolce & Gabbana	Donna Karan
Doo.Ri	Douglas Hannant	Dries Van Noten
Dsquared²	Duro Olowu

Eley Kishimoto	Elie Saab	Elie Tahari
Elise Øverland	Emanuel Ungaro	Emilio Pucci
Emporio Armani	Erdem	Erin Fetherston
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