It’s ironic that Comme des Garçons has been running a clothing brand called Shirt for years, finding many ways to lift a down button, and now here we are moving all day and just visible from the sternum upwards. It is possible that Rei Kawakubo has thought about everything. There’s also little irony, although everyone is obsessed with the sweatpants debate against suing – 11 months into the pandemic, bored, binary way of thinking – Kawakubo is happily making shirts in Tokyo. The down button is a mediocre, forgettable outfit if there ever was one, and nonetheless, it’s more interesting than most of what we’ve seen this year. Kawakubo always tends to get the last laugh.
The press release for the 2021 Comme des Garçons Shirt collection will be familiar to many who have covered Kawakubo’s work: “No subject.” Instead, the line includes a collaboration with Kaws that sees the artist redefine designs he made for CDG as well as introduce new ones. The graphic design of the prints was decided by Kawakubo, with Companions and “CDG” in Kaws writing down shirts, undershirts and messenger bags. The Zoom-bound will definitely appreciate the graphic elements and pastel images.
Kawakubo has exploded the shirt in other ways as well. There are some irregularities, misalignment of the neck or hem into folds, arches, and irregular bias draping. These are worn under schoolboy blazers, the material gathering at the shoulders or thighs to give the models a bulbous shape. Continuing with that idea is a series of puffer shorts, vests, and shorts in black that ride high on the shoulder and wide at the knee. They turn the wearer’s body into a Kaws sculptural shape: padded and puffy. The vibe is a kind of disheveled friendship.
This is clothing that looks normal, but doesn’t. That’s another themed attraction link for 2021, a time that has begun to feel normal but in reality only.