One Cool Cat

I was flicking through the numerous cartoon (well, mostly 3d animation nowadays) channels as I was seated with my nephew yesterday. With his favourite show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse having just finished, I decided to try once again to introduce him to some of my favourite childhood shows. The final choice came between one of the earlier shorts of the Pink Panther, or the more contemporary, and in all likelihoood more accessible for his age range, Spongebob Squarepants. Now whilst I have a clear love for the adventures of the amicable sponge and his dopey starfish friend, I thought that one of the Pink Panther animated shorts would make a wonderful entry into the franchise, whilst he is still too young to really enjoy the original movie.

As the Panther caused his usual amusing mayhem and my nephew laughed away, more so at the general animation than the actual jokes given his two year old age, I was reminded of Rei Kawakubo's beautiful pink Spring '05 collection for Comme des Garçons.

I am fascinated by the fact that the collection could have easily shown for Spring '09 and have such a current appeal. This spring season saw the likes of Paul Helbers showing a whole range of pink tailoring at Louis Vuitton, or Frida Giannini with her bright pink jeans at Gucci. Indeed some may remember my recent post on the matching of bright pink with fine striped blue garments this season, which is again apparent in this '05 collection.

I found Kawakubo's colour palette beautifully appealing, although perhaps this may have been biased by the fact that pinks actually works quite well against my skin tone. Yet also, given her penchant for darker monochromatic designs, focusing frequently on blacks and whites, I was fascinated by how well she worked the more shocking pinks and bright patterns. Another appeal for me was definitely the cut of the collection.

When it comes to the more deconstructed look, CdG always gets it right for me. And indeed the trademark designers of this look have always been the likes of Yohji Yamamoto and Kawakubo herself. In more recent times designers such as Rick Owens and Ann Demeulemeester, who was actually inspired by Kawakubo for her own aesthetic, have added to the ranks of the continued exploration of the deconstructed garment and effects of layering. I suppose I have quite contrasting tastes in my ideal of fit, admiring both close cut tailoring and flowing layering, for their showcase of design talent and the artful way they work against the body.


Currently playing: Robocop - Kanye West

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