It is mentioned every time but bears repeating: The Comme des Garçons Shirt presentation is the only men’s show in Paris that starts precisely on time—first thing on a weekend morning, no less. Today, it began 2 minutes early. Anyone who wants or needs to be there accepts the tug of this hyper-punctuality knowing they’re starting the day on a high note.
The rollout of grouped looks kicked off with Comme des Garçons Shirt Boys. This season, the label-within-a-label-within-a-label actually made more of a statement with the pants—plaid, wide or blooming, sometimes suspendered—than with the shirting and tees, which picked up on the patterns on the pockets or block lettering. This description makes them sound clownish; they weren’t. When the proper Shirt lineup began, tops were shown untucked; bottoms, as usual, never once made contact with the sneakers (Spalwart, Converse, and a woven, in-house design). Around midway came a selection patterned in multicolored painted circles that were the work of American artist Mary Heilmann. The drippy red ones were a déjà vu of her work, Rosebud, from 1983. These, plus the appliquéd circles; the bicolor shirts and knits extending beyond their natural seams; and patchwork blazers from blue shirting all summarized a characteristically Comme concept: freehand yet finessed. The palette, meanwhile, seemed more assertive than mild; more of the Heilmann influence, perhaps. The music was up-tempo hip-hop jazz, the heads were half-shaved (more accurately, styled with a half hairpiece)—everything adding up to an expressive attitude. Placed among the final, more sober selection was a finely striped shirt that appeared embellished with the cutouts of a torso, from pecs to lower abs. Thank you, Comme des Garçons Shirt, for this amusing, edgy shortcut to a summer body.
