It seems that the 2017 Met Gala and retrospective exhibition of Rei Kawakubo opened the celebrated designer’s eyes into what has been her lasting impact in the last few decades. And for spring 2019, she continues her tradition of breaking the boundaries of fashion in her never-ending pursuit of doing the unexpected. The result is a personal reflection of what she wants to do moving forward, which may mean finally letting go of what she’s been doing in the past. The collection was an ode, maybe a final one, to all the iconic shows she’s done before: the “Clustering Beauty” of spring 1998, the “Lumps and Bumps” of spring 1997, and the “Lilith” of fall 1992 are just some examples. However, this time her models wore white wigs and some accessorized with constricting chains—Kawakubo’s poetic interpretation of her own constraints as a creative spirit yearning to do something new.
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Photo: Kim Weston Arnold / Indigital.tv
