Daily Front Row

2013 March 4

Paris Fall 2013: Comme des Garçons, Akris

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Comme des Garcons Fall 2013
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(PARIS) Comme des Garçons
Menswear tailoring has been a big theme this season, but of course no one would interpret it quite like Rei Kawakubo. The complexity of the clothing alone was enough to show that much time was spent on developing these pieces, which was perhaps a statement emphasized by the ultra narrow runway on which it was shown so that editors could see the detail up close. Suits came in houndstooth or deep red velvet with huge roses cut from the fabric for embellishment or in pale grey short suits with extra worked onto each sleeve of the jacket for a cape-like affect. Likewise, a black and white pinstripe coat-dress came with rolled and twisted curls of fabric on each sleeve for extra volume. The show closed with wildly colorful prints to complement the inventive fabric manipulations in a multi-colored rosette short suit with a tuxedo style jacket worn over a silk hot pink buttondown, all worn under a floral coat with big bows that were sewn closely together to create another version of the ruffle. As for the accessories? Try burned and dyed wigs that seemed to say to the audience, like the rest of the collection, "look closer."

Akris 
If you're looking for color this season, you won't see too much of it and at Akris, you won't see it at all. In fact, the only piece in the show that wasn't black was a solitary stark white classic fur coat, cinched at the waist with a white belt and worn over a cut-out cream turtleneck. Otherwise, models marched out in a dark procession of pencil dresses and round shouldered skirt suits worn over sheer black turtlenecks or long boheme looks, like a cut-out black turtleneck dress with a revealing slit that went from the neck to the waist. On a somber note, creative director Albert Kreimler's mother passed away in December and in a mournful ode to Mrs. Kreimler, an orchestra played her favorite Bach pieces as the backdrop to the sleek and serious collection. Perhaps this was Kreimler's tasteful reflection on the fleeting quality of time and its inevitable path.