War and peace at Comme des Garçons

It’s not easy being a man, to be taught that strength and bravery must never be challenged by weakness or sentimentality, that emotions should be concealed, kept under close guard. The AW16 Comme des Garçons Homme Plus collection explored these warring sides of masculinity, as well as the warring sides of humanity, with a collection that played with the formalities of tailoring, juxtaposing clothes that looked ready for battle with cascading floral headpieces created by longterm Kawakubo collaborator Julien d’Ys.

The show’s models emerged not onto a runway, but to walk around a large square of floor – pacing the space like they were confined, confronting the audience with their looks. While Comme des Garçons’ womenswear may be renowned for explosive silhouettes, with fabric forming tumorous mounds or enormous billows, it's the traditional shirt, jacket, trousers combination that underscores Kawakubo’s menswear collections. Here, the theme was battle, with the designer making a visual pun on the suit of armour with tailoring that was ready-made for the warrior – sleeves had articulated joints in different fabrics (soft florals and eclipse patterns rather than hard steel) that allowed movement instead of restricting it. One procession of looks featured leather waistcoats with Samurai-like shoulders that buckled across the chest, and jackets that came with straps over shoulders or punctured with metal rivets. But instead of terrifying masks donned by ancient Japanese warriors, designed to frighten the enemy, these boys were softened with flowers and girlish plaits. They were soldiers and pacifists, Hamlets and Ophelias.

When a group emerged for the finale, black-clad and holding bouquets, the flowers in their arms felt both like peace offerings and, with the swelling violins filling the room, funeral tributes. With the increased security around Paris (metal detectors at shows, bag checks, guards) it was impossible not to imagine these figures as mourners of the horrors that befell the city only months ago. Earlier this week, Walter Van Beirendonck discussed how fashion can react to a world in crisis – by talking about it. Rei Kawakubo, of course, prefers not to talk. She doesn’t really need to. Instead she just shows.