There's always this moment towards the end of the European Fashion Week marathon when you're in drag.
At this very moment you need a shock – an amazing outfit that defies expectations.
The shock arrived Friday evening from a most unexpected place: Kenzo.
The label has been in turmoil for several years under creative director Nigo. The collection feels laden with products and too bloated with haphazard ideas. I was expecting more of the same walking into Le Palais des Chailots late on a Friday.
What I got instead was Kenzo with the fat shaved off. The first act of the show was its strongest. A rotation of overcoats, spongy blazers and cardigans in brushed mohair. In soft grays, pinks, yellows, and electric blues, they looked like Muppets on the sleeves. Attractive! It was a palate cleanser while maintaining founder Kenzo Tada's playfulness.
Other heart rate accelerators in the collection included an overcoat with a painterly striped pattern crossed at the edges like the leaves of a rubber plant, and some ruched shorts. Yes, it's unrealistic, but it's still a cool idea.
It wasn't all land. The collaboration with Futura 2000, a graffiti artist who made the leap into the world of high art, was yawn-inducing, even if you've heard the song so many times before. Futura collaborates with Nike, Off-White, Louis Vuitton and Comme des Garçons shirts. Perhaps it's time for fashion labels to find a new artistic muse.
Still, on Friday, I left the show wondering where Kenzo Zag was next.
It's no surprise that it's the most important thing to do in Paris. Amiri's show, predictably sparkling earlier in the week – all sparkly exotic leather trench coats, swingy Bowie suits, square teen jaws and defined square blazers – is still going strong It left an impression. Mike Amiri remains a vision of luxury right out of the Playboy Mansion in 1973. There's really no reason for him to deviate from that. it works.
Nevertheless, it was an idea that made me go “huh”. On Saturday morning, Bulgarian pack-ish designer Kiko Kostadinov blew out tunics that evoked architectural overcoats, The Legend of Zelda, and shirts stamped with the Hungarian coat of arms. And bam! Two models came wearing crocheted ties. tie! Mr. Kostadinov's Avant Buffet was the last place I expected to find those beleaguered corporate nous. nevertheless!
This week's iconic surprise came from Comme des Garçons Homme Plus. There, designer Rei Kawakubo made a statement because this was the only show that truly acknowledged the wider ills of the world through clothes. Paris Fashion Week centered around Donald J. Trump's inauguration, and political upheaval made for front-row chatter, but most designers tightened up when pressed on issues other than Hemlin. I did. (American Willy Chavarria, who was first shown in Paris, may have been the only designer to utter the names of President Trump and politicians during post-show interviews.)
But Ms. Kawakubo wasn't afraid to use her clothes as a conversation wedge. A surgically modified model with an olive drab officer's coat flowing down the front and spit boots with straight toes and a helmet with flowers pasted on it runs through It was clear that she was sending messages about various wars. It's happening all over the world.
She titled the collection Hell at War. It wasn't the most novel statement, but the shock came from hearing a designer make a statement at all.
