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敬请期待中文版  Atechnical and visual tour de force from Junya Watanabe's A/W2016-17 collection Picture credit: Indigital I RARELY REVIEW "the Japanese" together as a group, because theyall take such different and distinct paths. But each of thefollowing designers, who have been showing in Paris for 22 to 35years, gave extraordinary performances this season. Undercover: Relaxing For All Ages Backstage after the Undercover show, I found a table of gildedheaddresses - Olympian leaves, golden nails burrowing into blackvelvet, the spiky twigs of winter trees.  Picture credit: Indigital This ode to nature, with the soaring music of "Somewhere overthe Rainbow" sung in Japanese playing in the background, wasdesigner Jun Takahashi at his finest. He mixed with sweet serenitynot just textures of wool but the ages of the women who wore/wearhis clothes. "It's about relaxing for all ages," said Takahashi, who, afterhis joyous 25th anniversary last season, seems to have entered aperiod of zen.  Picture credit: Indigital The references to nature were not only what looked like a creepycrawly creature on the front of a red handbag, but cats printed ondresses and raw wood for a violin-shaped bag. The showended with golden dresses that looked as though they were madeof hay, dipped in gold.  Picture credit: Indigital The show was also about age: models from the 1990s, and possiblyfurther back, had fine clothes to wear - a chevron tweed coat; anoversized satin pyjama suit; a coat mixing cashmere, framed incotton with a puffa jacket back. Most of these desirable coats hada plush surface, but without being fancy.  Picture credit: Indigital The only slight disturbances in this ocean of calm werecollages of women's faces printed on fabric. But is there awild wood without a witchy happening? And you know that thisimaginative, deep thinking designer always has more to say -undercover.  Picture credit: Indigital Junya Watanabe: Origami Re-visited Pleats, folds, and three-dimensional squares and circles fromhead to foot: that was the origami effect created by JunyaWatanabe.  Picture credit: Indigital There is always a sense that this designer, reticent to thepoint of silence, reaches out constantly to the Western world, butkeeps his soul in Tokyo, where Comme des Garçons has supported himsince the 1990s. This exercise in origami was made with religious solemnity, withchurch music playing as the models came out in pairs and thenseparated to walk the runway in opposite directions.  Picture credit: Indigital But the same could not be said about the clothes, which followedone direction in their addiction to the art of origami. Yet thefolded shapes were surprisingly wearable and enlivened by brightshades of scarlet and shocking pink among the black. Flat slipperswith squared-off, pointed toes completed the look.  Picture credit: Indigital Perversely, I thought more about Pierre Cardin in the 1960s thanthe flowering of origami in the Sung Dynasty, for the clothes hadthe eternal modernity of inventive craft.  Picture credit: Indigital Issey Miyake: From Tech to the Body The "Miyake Issey Exhibition", focusing on the Japanesedesigner's 45-year career, opens in Tokyo this month, and willshowcase the methodologies and possibilities of making clothes thatlook to the future.  Picture credit: Indigital Miyake's exploration of the relationship between a piece ofcloth and the body are legendary. So is his rare desire to pass onhis skills and ways of working so that they are reinterpreted by anew generation. Currently, the Miyake brand is in the hands of YoshiyukiMiyamae, who has found a way to exhibit his work alongsidemusicians and artists Ei Wada and Hanuka Yoshida, who usephotosensitive sensors to transform light into sound.  Picture credit: Indigital The strangely compelling music and gusts of billowing dry iceformed a verbal and visual effect for what the designer was tryingexpress: "Beyond", as in exploring new ideas, thoughts, andmaterials.  Picture credit: Indigital So there was colour - vivid and vibrant; the textures ribbed,lines geometrically arranged; the clothes themselves sporty,youthful, and energetic. The programme notes explained thetechniques: "Baked Stretch", when cloth is printed with glue andbaked into pleats, prismatic patterns and concentric circles. Othermethods included a "3D Steam Stretch", which shrinks cloth, makingthe patterns ever richer.  Picture credit: Indigital The secret is not in the "How?" or even the "Why?". Thisis hyper-modern technology applied to clothes that look as simpleas they can when all the colours of the rainbow - and some muchquieter effects - are embedded in a piece of cloth.  Picture credit: Indigital Yohji Yamamoto: Body Language in Black and White "I will be back soon", read the white graffiti on a long, lean,black dress. And it was certainly a Yohji dress, because, as ever,the designer makes his fashion identity so clear and concise thathis spirit emanated from each piece in this collection ofslimmed-down, plain, but not-so-innocent outfits.  Picture credit: Indigital The initial surprise were the models' faces - a black line drawnfrom the mouth, giving a strange effect of capture - whileadditional sections of hair fell dead straight at the sides. Butthat was the most complex effect on show - unless you count afinale of three young women with messages graffitied on theirclothes.  Picture credit: Indigital Compared to the Spring/Summer 2016 collection, where Iremember much more draping, knotting, and the introduction ofYohji's crinoline frames, Autumn/Winter 2016-17 appeared calm, witha collection entirely in black and white - although I might haveglimpsed a few red stitches. There were also no sneakers, onlysmart, even shiny, black shoes.  Picture credit: Indigital What stood out from these soft, narrow shapes was aslow-burn sexuality as the fabric undulated over the body or fleshappeared through a back flap. Since the designer is a master ofportraying black as a colour, there were changes of texture, aswhen a bust shimmered with an oily patch.  Picture credit: Indigital The collection was beautifully, quintessentially Yohji - andalso faintly disturbing in its focus on young women with shinyblack lips to kiss.  Picture credit: Indigital (责任编辑：admin) |