Comme des Garçons Fall 2018: Camp Fantasies

Camp can express something deeper, and give birth to progress" - Rei Kawakubo

 By now it's become clear that Comme des Garçons collections are never just about the clothes; Kawakubo produces fabric sculptures, characters straight out of fairytales, she sends them down the runway to tell a story or multiple ones at the same time and keep us entertained. The Fall 2018 collection consisted of only 16 looks; it was a show of over-the-top campiness that you can't bring yourself to look away from. 

 Counter-culture is nothing new, going against the grain is nothing to be shocked over in 2018; but going against your own motif? Surprising even your most loyal followers by doing the exact opposite of what they would expect from you, and delivering it in the very same way as the rest? Kawakubo broke her own habits, presenting a collection that had a deeper meaning of joy and campiness, not a haunting and darker underlying meaning, which is what we usually expect. The Fall 2018 show (it wasn't just a collection, let's be real) created a pocket universe right next to the real world, one where the audience stepped in and forgot about the nastiness and cynicism and was emerged in a world of lovely and colorful frills, an age of innocence. In a post-show email (another new thing) Kawakubo explained how her inspiration came from reading Susan Sontag's 1964 essay Notes on Camp. Of that she wrote, "I can really relate to this vision. Camp is not something horribly exaggerated, out of the ordinary, or in bad taste. This collection came out of the feeling that, on the contrary, camp is really and truly something deep and new, and represents a value that we need."

 The collection was well and truly camp. As hard as it is to put that in a box, it achieved. Whether it was in the opening look of the bride in a lace frock padded dress with a skirt stoned of what looked to be seashells, the model whose head was framed by a large padded star in navy or the fuchsia tulle dress that had an 80s lace prom dress sewn onto it; making it easy to imagine a young girl trying on her mother's dress, the entire thing swallowing her whole and not fitting quite right, Kawakubo would have made Leigh Bowery ecstatically proud.

It's hard to start listing the details that made this collection cohesive, no extra special nods this time since not one look was on the other. It was a fantasy of the techno-colored Betty Boop sweater torn in the middle to showcase the layered, lilac ruffle dress and the nylon-covered rainbow jacket alongside the closing look sculpted in a way that looked as if the wind was sweeping away both the black and grey tulle and my grandma's lace tablecloth. In fact, my grandma is probably looking for her floral quilts too. Well, now they're part of a layered dream that nobody can truly explain, and I'm okay with that.
 

 Candy-coloured patchwork, a conscious mixture of lace and sequins, extravagant headpieces in glittery gold or blonde hair with fuchsia spots, gold lamé ruffles on dresses and sculpted dresses that looked more like various fabrics stacked one on top of another resembling cotton-candy or even clouds brought together a childlike and imaginative ingenuity that was much needed during this season. Kawakubo presented an enchanting world of tulle, sequins and everything a young and naive child would enjoy and prove that it can also carry a deeper meaning of hope and joy.

 An additional detail that brought me joy was the inclusion of models of colour. Comme de Garçons was recently brought under fire for the exclusion, whether it was intentional or not we don't know, of any models that were not white on the runway since the 1990s. Although simply not enough, it was another change of habit that was happily welcomed and appreciated