“With the state of the world as it is, the future as uncertain as it is, if you put air and transparency into the mix of things, there could be the possibility of hope” is Rei Kawakubo‘s thought behind her spring-summer 2025 collection, paraphrased by her husband Adrian Joffe. Comme Des Garçons shows during Paris Fashion Week are moments of transcendence, like a slit to another reality. This season, the voluptuous, ecstatic, erratic, bubbling, unsettling and vibrant forms, some as if splattered with blood, hit different. Just a couple of days before the show, I watched Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” starring Demi Moore, and in a way this film dialogues with Kawakubo’s subversive take on contemporary women: their emotions, struggles, bodies (just think about her “Lumps & Bumps” collection). Then, seeing these runway garments IRL during a re-see at Comme Des Garçons’ showroom, in attendance of Rei herself and Michele Lamy, felt like a very bold, fever dream (in fact I was sick that day – the Parisian cold!). An experience to remember and cherish forever.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!