Comme des Garçons Homme Plus S/S 2017

Mood board: It is rare for the cerebral designer Rei Kawakubo to proffer a fixed point of reference for her work, yet this season she had the message boldly displayed across the clothes. Tabards and trousers were scrawled with the words: ‘The King is Naked’, a nod to Hans Christian Andersen’s short tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes. It is a story about fashion after all. Transparency and pageantry were the message. A raft of tailoring was layered with fine gauze, longline cardigans underneath or PVC trench coats on top.
Best in show: A section of the show included short suits and shirts made in fabric printed with the face of operatic soprano Lina Cavalieri, taken from Piero Fornasetti’s iconic drawings. Fornasetti first became mesmerised with her oddly blank stare whilst flicking through a 19th-century magazine in the early fifties. He went on to reinterpret her more than 500 times. Today, his son Barnaba Fornasetti continues to design in his father’s name and the prints he worked on for Comme have translated Cavalieri into a vivid polka dot, with a swipe of crimson lipstick.
Finishing touches: Models wore high-top, black and white trainers with transparent PVC panels on the side. They are the result of a new collaboration between Garçon Homme Plus and Nike. Dover Street Market — the label’s buzzy chain of concept stores – has teamed up with the American sportswear giant before, but this marks the first sneaker collaboration for the Homme Plus label.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
London based writer Dal Chodha is editor-in-chief of Archivist Addendum — a publishing project that explores the gap between fashion editorial and academe. He writes for various international titles and journals on fashion, art and culture and is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. Chodha has been working in academic institutions for more than a decade and is Stage 1 Leader of the BA Fashion Communication and Promotion course at Central Saint Martins. In 2020 he published his first book SHOW NOTES, an original hybrid of journalism, poetry and provocation.
-
Leila Bartell’s cloudscapes are breezily distorted, a response to an evermore digital world
‘Memory Fields’ is the London-based artist’s solo exhibition at Tristan Hoare Gallery (until 25 July 2025)
-
Absolut is reviving Keith Haring’s 1986 poser with a vibrant limited-edition bottle
The Absolut Haring Artist-Edition bottle, released 40 years after Haring collaborated with the vodka brand, features his bold lines, electric colours and dancing figures
-
This hidden London culinary haven is a refreshing take on the steakhouse
Mr Porter, a new steakhouse, bar and lounge in central London's swish Mayfair, is a hidden haven of strong flavours and minimalist dining
-
Donna Trope celebrates the power of the Polaroid in Paris
‘Polaroids used to be my rejects, and now they are my holy grail,’ says the beauty photographer, as she shows rarely seen images in a Paris exhibition
-
Palace unites with Rapha to celebrate inaugural Tour de France Femmes
Marking the first time women will compete in the historic cycling race since the late 1980s, this new collaboration sees Palace Skateboards and Rapha create uniforms for both on and off the bike – including an ‘outlandish’ pair of Crocs
-
Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022: Chanel to Miu Miu
In this extended report, Wallpaper* updates you live from Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022 shows, with rolling coverage as runway events unfold
-
Scene-stealing runway sets from S/S 2022 womenswear shows
From giant roulette wheels to Olympic diving boards and multi-city synchronized extravaganzas – our pick of the best fashion show sets from S/S 2022 womenswear
-
Louis Vuitton A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
-
Chanel A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
-
Y/Project A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
-
Sacai A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's