Mood board: Read into it what you will, but the show notes for Rei Kawakubo’s A/W 2018 collection were titled ‘WHITE SHOCK: Inner Rebel’. The show opened with models wearing large dinosaur skulls rendered in fabric by the Japanese illustrator and artist Shimoda Masakatsu. The clothes featured patchwork superhero comic strips, aerial photographs of an anonymous city, photographic prints of crazy paving, pebbles and manhole covers – an eclectic mien with a textured narrative. White asymmetric front jackets were made from fabric of embossed tiled grid. Shearling cut into wide shorts and cocooning trenchcoats. Collars on shirts twisted to the right. Graphic architectural drawings of interiors were layered and printed onto blazers.
Scene setting: Kawakubo’s approach is always esoteric. Her last A/W show was staged in the grand, opulent ballroom at the Westin hotel, yet we entered the space from a narrow service entrance at the back of the building. This season the show was held inside the Théâtre du Châtelet – an opera house, located in the 1e arrondissement of Paris, which first opened in 1862. In December last year the Heritage Foundation in partnership with the City of Paris, launched a crowdfunding campaign to pay for its renovation, which is under the direction of the architect Philippe Pumain. The show was set on the stage – a plywood ceiling had been lowered above and the lighting set low. Models walked to and from the edge where a tower of metal scaffolding stood, scaling the entire atrium. It represented a transformative, transfigurative mood.
Team work: All of the three styles of shoe that featured have been made in collaboration: off white trainers with Nike; two-buckle, crepe sole creepers with George Cox; an architectural rubber, closed-toe lace-up created by the Brazilian brand Melissa. Kawakubo’s S/S18 women’s show featured customised shoes by the brand and this is the first time that Melissa has developed an exclusive men’s style. ‘The surprising thing is that it's a product with no sole, and no top, as if it were a single thing.’ Edson Matsuo, Melissa’s creative director said. ‘It's a single block, which is exactly what you'd expect from Comme des Garçons.’
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Tokyo Auto Salon 2025: custom cars and one-off creations from the Japanese home marketWhat began as a celebration of Japan's custom car culture is a now a major event for many of the country's biggest automakers. We round up the news from Tokyo Auto Salon 2025
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Lunar New Year in London: where to celebrate the Year of the Wood SnakeDo you want a year of good fortune and happiness? Then it is time to tuck into some of London’s cult favourite hotspots, devour decadent treats, and toast the Lunar New Year, and we have you covered with our guide to all things going on in the city (from 29 January until 8 February 2025)
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Remembering Oliviero Toscani, fashion photographer and author of provocative Benetton campaignsBest known for the controversial adverts he shot for the Italian fashion brand, former art director Oliviero Toscani has died, aged 82
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Palace unites with Rapha to celebrate inaugural Tour de France FemmesMarking 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
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Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022: Chanel to Miu MiuIn this extended report, Wallpaper* updates you live from Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022 shows, with rolling coverage as runway events unfold
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Scene-stealing runway sets from S/S 2022 womenswear showsFrom 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
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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 -
Alexander McQueen A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
