Rei Kawakubo has come to the realization that “black is the color for me.”
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And after her romantic, unapologetically pretty Comme des Garçons show for fall, the audience realized anew how gifted the Japanese designer is in finding new ways to express herself in the color that has defined her epic fashion career, not forgetting her personal wardrobe.
“It’s just the strongest, the best for creation, and the color that embodies the rebellious spirit. And has the biggest meaning: the universe and the black hole,” she said in show notes distributed to select editors.
Kawakubo reprised her familiar lumps and bumps; those side-mounted protrusions that resemble rocket engines; 2-D dresses, here carved out of the front and back into a sculptural cape and lapping to and fro; abstract stalactite volumes protruding and dripping here and there, and stacked orbs of volume, often in top-heavy configurations.
She did not skimp on gorgeous black fabrics, including lace, sequins, brocades, fringe and chiffon, which were shirred, draped, knotted into soft bows, or assembled to evoke tendrils of wisteria.
Nor did she limit herself to black, belting her lumps of coal with padded satin belts in red, white, or green; underpinning her hip protrusions with white wadding, and then, just when you thought the show might be ending, sending out a half dozen of her bulbous dresses in pink versions.
No matter how abstract Kawakubo’s creations, they always manage to register as feminine, and dignified, and the swooning soundtrack by Ugo Nardini heightened the emotional impact of the display.
She gave the ultimate endorsement to the most ubiquitous color of fall 2026: Black is the new black.