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The suit, the sleeve, the stripe. The first few looks of Rei Kawakubo’s autumn/winter 13 collection concentrated on these three happy S’s. Baby birds with pinstripe feather flaps and downy purple heads flitted down the catwalk, turning sideways to let each other pass. As ever, the workmanship on each look was outstanding, draping masses of fabric together to form giant exaggerated sleeves like wings, some padded and sculpted into abstract shapes. Variations on the suit came in full look houndstooth check, then full look pinstripe, then full look Prince of Wales check, each fabric folding in on itself over and over to create mind-bending patterns within patterns. Rei must have been feeling romantic, as the draping started circling into full bloom roses, culminating in a red velvet, rose covered suit – her avant-garde take on purity and innocence. The femininity continued with neat grey bows on waistcoats and more grey, white and black suits, at which point we felt we understood: the suit, the sleeve, the stripe, a bit of romance and birdy inspiration. But we should know by now that Rei Kawakubo will not meet expectations, even the one’s she sets herself, she must only exceed them. And so it followed, or didn’t follow, that the final looks were crazy kaleidoscope prints in every colour under the rainbow, mixing graphic prints and patterns like a computer game with a hundred levels that all look different. It was an inspired end to a classical Rei collection.
Text: Sarah Raphael
Photography: Mitchell Sams
