Rei Kawakubo’s spring show for Comme des Garçons Homme Plus felt like a bookend to her nearly heartbreaking fall 2025 men’s effort, titled “To Hell With War.”
Here it was “If the War Were to End,” and the spectacle brimmed with hope, vivid color and positive vibes.
A year-and-a-half ago, her young models wore army boots with the toe box upturned at a 90-degree angle, a footwear style that suggested war is a dead end.
Here, the boots had morphed into poulaines, their long, pointy toes curled up whimsically. Likewise, camouflage prints were blown up in size and recolored in psychedelic hues, bringing lava lamps to mind. Army helmets had been replaced by calico sun hats or bucket styles.
So when the models bounded out for the finale to a song by The Langley Schools Music Project, wearing colorful T-shirts with slogans like “My energy comes from freedom,” a burst of joy spread through the Élysée Montmartre music venue, and the audience roared with approval.
This was a relatively approachable men’s collection by Comme des Garçons Homme Plus standards, even broadly falling into line with the seasonal trend to lightweight tailoring.
Kawakubo explored long tailcoat and frock coat shapes, employing lightweight shirting and pajama fabrics, most of them striped. Some came over loose smock dresses; others over shirts and shorts.
Some of the jackets, including slim-lined blazers, had a bit of swing, ending in pleats, ruffles or swags of fabrics, but mostly the clothes were giving summer picnic, or Serpentine summer party, vibes.
It’s been a while since Kawakubo let loose with this much color, showing only a few black tailored ensembles, and terrific ones, but sparking them with vivid yellow, green or blue shirts.
In parallel with the show, she mounted an installation in the courtyard of Dover Street Market Paris that evokes United Nations member flags. She gave it the same title and used the same slogan fabrics, showing what a colorful world it could be if the war were to end.
