re-appropriated in outsized bomber jackets

There were influences of India and Nepal in the rich fabrications - the lavish jacquards, the printed lamés and the silvered lurex. They'd been taken from the Kenzo archives and re-appropriated in outsized bomber jackets, wrap skirts with graphic cut-out hems and loud printed blouses. The standout print? An all-seeing eye, which added mystic power to powder blue silk skirts and shirts and which emblazoned on the front of a black neoprene sweater will doubtless prove to be a sellout. This season, as she said, it was tailoring that came under scrutiny. (Scan the season so far and tailoring has been at the root of every notable collection). But this wasn’t just any old tailoring, this was, as she aptly described it: ‘The Infinity of Tailoring.’

Tailoring taken to its extreme limit – or perhaps she was saying there is no limit? So through houndstooth, bold stripes, pin stripes and plain black, in utility nylon and luxury velvet, (monochrome trend - tick), she explored other autumn / winter 2013 favourites - volume and silhouette. There were giant shoulders that exploded with whorls of fabric, trouser legs and backs of jackets displaying giant roses, waistbands that jutted out front and back, big bows that cascaded down the front of coats or the backs of skirts, entire three-piece-suits made of fluttering square ‘leaves’ of the finest Savile Row wool worsted, jumpsuits whose sleeves were inflated with large fabric crocuses… The venue was cold, yes, but as soon as the sound of an elephant's trumpet blasted through the iron vaults, we were lifted out of ice cold waters and welcomed to the jungle.

 With puffs of hot breath coming from their nostrils and mouths the models marched out to a thundering Grime bass. They wore belted kimono jackets with shiny croco-embossed leather mini skirts and rich gold brocade trousers with neoprene sweaters.In a warehouse in Le Marais, Paris’ lively, arty arrondissement, in a warehouse with exposed pipes and three rows of intimate seating, the select few gathered to pay the ritual six-monthly homage to Comme des Garcons, Kawakubo’s self-built brand. Do you have any words?’ we asked. The Japanese designer traditionally has a word or a phrase that she feels sums up her collection. She looked at her husband Adrian Joffe. Not for the answer (she, of course knows all the answers), but because she prefers him to speak on her behalf: ‘The infinity of tailoring,’ he said. and luxury velvet, (monochrome trend - tick), she explored other autumn / winter 2013 favourites - volume and silhouette. There were giant shoulders that exploded with whorls of fabric,

trouser legs and backs of jackets displaying giant roses, waistbands that jutted out front and back, big bows that cascaded down the front of coats or the backs of skirts, entire three-piece-suits made of fluttering square ‘leaves’ of the finest Savile Row wool worsted, jumpsuits whose sleeves w And not – never – by the world’s most feted names in modelling who swish and pose, but regular girls who just happen to be a bit tall and lean, with sweet faces – another atypical fashion statement to jolt the senses. There was nothing whatsoever commercial, in the traditional sense, about this collection. But Rei Kawakubo’s job is bigger than that. In a warehouse in Le Marais, Paris’ lively, arty arrondissement, in a warehouse with exposed pipes and three rows of intimate seating, the select few gathered to pay the ritual six-monthly homage to Comme des Garcons, Kawakubo’s self-built brand.