The thought of donning skiwear while temperatures on this summery Saturday in Paris hovered in the low 80s might seem like an unpleasant exercise in wardrobe dissonance. Absurd, even. But Kolor’s Junichi Abe, who learned to ski as a child and recently returned to the slopes, was intrigued by the challenge of recontextualizing the high-octane sport. So as the sun shone down on a courtyard within the Pierre and Marie Curie University campus, the collection slalomed through a variety of references without the heaviness of winter apparel.
Runway music can speak volumes, and the thumping electronic soundtrack suggested that this lineup was not as vaguely nostalgic as the color scheme and old-school outdoorsy layers might have suggested. Abe is often era-ambiguous this way, and brought us to a kind of retro-future rave world where Gen Z and people of the designer’s own generation would find common ground.
As every look had its own precise originality, the most compelling outfits were those that showed off his clever constructions. You can almost see how the sleeveless blazer in look 37 had a billowing windbreaker back, while what appeared to be a more classic design in look 43 revealed a dense arrangement of sport paneling and ski cords as the model walked past. Outerwear was totally reimagined—longer and lighter, sometimes attached to the waist as a half-skirt. The alpine snowflake sweaters and mittens appeared as cape sleeves or else as fun tops with glistening letters that spelled out powder (interpret as you will). Safety orange tulle created a strange lightness—at once softly feminine while also evoking a screen or filter.
“It looks normal but then something happens,” said Abe after the show. “It looks not weird, it combines naturally.” Asked whether he considered how the collection would make us feel, he demurred. Perhaps there are no straightforward impressions amidst these elaborate compositions (even the sandals were made up of multiple straps, each boasting a sport slogan). Most salient was a sense of awe similar to the experience of seeing collages by Picasso and Braque, who sought to shake up surfaces, add dimension, and enhance visual interest. “Well, I’m not Picasso,” Abe said with a laugh. Still, he’s doing something unmatched by anyone else.
