Japanese Designers Dominate Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2019

The article reviews the Fall/Winter 2019 collections of three prominent Japanese designers presented at Paris Fashion Week in February 2019: Junya Watanabe, Chitose Abe for Sacai, and Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons. It contextualizes their work within the legacy of Japanese fashion's arrival in Paris in 1982, led by Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, and Issey Miyake. Junya Watanabe's collection, titled 'Kawaii,' referenced cute Japanese anime but contrasted with harsh hair and makeup; his designs featured colorful floral patchwork, denim, bomber jackets, and eco-leather. Chitose Abe's Sacai collection emphasized layering, complex volumes, and proportions, blending Kawakubo's influence with a romantic and colorful aesthetic. Rei Kawakubo's Comme des Garçons show presented 'a gathering of shadows,' with models in black rubber armor, Victorian taffeta, and a bomb-shaped skirt, accompanied by sounds of military machinery and children singing a battle hymn. The collection included a 'No War' tartan print, addressing the return of armaments in Asia. The article notes that Kawakubo's work is never immediately understood but proves prescient over time, and that only Yves Saint Laurent and Rei Kawakubo have received two exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.