At Comme des Garçons Homme Plus, Rei Kawakubo Said ‘To Hell With War’
In backstage scrums, designers are often asked if their collections are reactions to current affairs: The presidential inauguration, the world’s tilt to the right, economic woes. All came up this European season, and designers usually balk, waving away such connections — and skirting potential political minefields.
Approached backstage after her tender, nearly heartbreaking Comme des Garçons Homme Plus show on Friday night, Rei Kawakubo delivered the blunt title of her collection, and her current state of mind: “To hell with war.”
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The footwear — army boots with the toe box upturned at a 90-degree angle — was enough to send a message that war is a dead end.
Kawakubo went much, much further: draping army helmets with the thick satin used for turbans, or decorating them with delicate field flowers; braiding the long, synthetic hair of her young, fresh-faced models, hippie style, and splicing military tailoring in olive drab with pinstripes, colored felt, tartans, denim, fancy jacquards, flower-power prints and pastel-colored woolens. They’re all fabrics associated with more constructive pursuits than bloodshed, be it business, labor or peaceful protest.
The Nina Simone soundtrack, the moody lighting, and the youth of the cast fed the melancholy of the show, while Kawakubo’s twisted tailoring and deconstruction of formal military dress held your attention.
Pants became agglomerations of drooping cargo pockets, and tailcoats were cut with the precision of Savile Row, but with raw, off-kilter elements.
Kawakubo brought everything together in a way few designers can, and this thought-provoking collection will linger in minds for some time.
Launch Gallery: Comme des Garçons Homme Plus Fall 2025 Ready-to-Wear Collection
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