Chistose Abe has never veered from her rebellious spirit.
Oversized zippers, frayed denim, gaps at the shoulder and knees have become signature design elements. This season her personal rebellion found inspiration in the 70s and 80s Japanese punk movement.
She took this kernel of history one step further with an exploration of “inside out”. In her pre-fall collection, Abe blurs the lines between the inside and outside of garments, allowing for details from the inside to reveal themselves on the outside, exploring the sculptured presence of layered cloth.
No garment is ordinary, or just as it first appears. Waists can be drawn in or flung open, hems pulled upwards or down, and jackets worn tight against the body or in a layered craze with all the structural elements bared.
An inherent elegance whispers from between structured layers of utility and experimental precedent. Though toeing the line on androgyny – her clothing is truly flattering on many types of bodies – Chitose’s designs hold an undeniably feminine bent with more tailored silhouettes this season. In exploring and reinterpreting what it means to be both progressive and a futurist, Chitose’s work lands squarely in the camp of other high-design greats, such as Dries Van Noten and Junya Watanabe, as well as her architectural peers, Suo Fujimoto and Kengo Kuma.
