following her highly successful collaboration with highstreet retail giant H&M, revered designer rei kawakubo returned to a highly conceptual exercise of dissecting western archetypes of clothing that proved once again that while she is able to percolate her avant garde sensibilities to adapt through a mass market vehicle, she is still able to provoke and push the boundaries of fashion and subvert all the idiosyncrasies connected to it like only she can. this was, for a lack of better word, a more straightforward collection. that however didn't mean that the end result was by any means obviously generic. while it didn't have the brazen provocation as her past collections, or its shock value results, what it did have was its surprising amalgamation of wearability and conceptual idea. the suit with its tartans, animal prints, and classic british fabrication, had the right amount of flair to balance and add an interest to its rather understandable silhouette and cut. the end result became sophisticated with a heightened sense of restraint that it became somewhat sublime. even when more experimental shapes such as the skirt or full legged cropped trousers paired with schoolboy cardigans possessed and intelligence and a wit that showed a rational mind at work. there was an undeniable maturity and elegance that bellied a renegade sensibility from one of the greatest designer of all time. and despite the doom and gloom that hovers its dark hood through every social crevice, she still managed to inject a sense of humour in the collection. if a shawl lapel jacket with a tromp l'oeil print of a belt tied around the waist in a chinoiserie print isn't enough to make you smile then you should start stocking up on the valium for a miserable financial year ahead.
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