Bold. Brilliant. For spring/summer, Junya Watanabe took us on a tour of the body, mapping out new territory on the torso, exploring new lines beneath the waist. As might be expected from the Comme des Garçons protégé, models resembled otherworldly creatures—all sporting identical high, sleek, black wigs and alabaster skin, the ideal canvas on which to build his layers of inventiveness.
He started with a series of sporty, second-skin undergarments—cropped tanks and cycling shorts—beneath tailored jackets cut from whisker-fine polyester. But then Watanabe’s experiment truly began to develop. Layer by layer, piece by piece, the body was eventually camouflaged by squares and diamonds and dots that spiraled in ever more complex confections. There were white dots the circumference of espresso cups dancing across black dresses, and polka dots of all dimensions were sliced and scattered across fluid, paneled skirts. Sheer gray bird’s-eye check jackets clung to the ribs, their intricate seams tracing the bones beneath. (Diagrams should be offered to Watanabe-wearers, as the point of entry to some of these was hard to detect).
The only respite from the stark black, white, and gray came in a single trapeze-shaped silky dress covered in diamonds of tan, chocolate, and cream. One could only wonder what this collection might have been had the designer indulged us with his kaleidoscopic sense of color. Maybe next season.
