JAPANESE DESIGNERS, drawing inspiration from sources far from their own land, yesterday provided two memorable spring collections in Paris.
Junya Watanabe from the Comme des Garcons atelier took humble cotton fabrics like traditional African batik prints, gingham and worn denim reworked them with technical verve and imagination into dresses, jackets and swagged skirts of couture beauty.
The show was conducted in silence, the models' headwear towering bouquets of dried flowers and grasses. Every piece had an artful twist, a fresh touch, whether it was batik knitted or plaited into chunky smocking or converted into sleek silk pleats decorating an elegant blouse. Jackets were outstanding; shaped and carved from raw linen or subtly-darned denim or in white broderie anglaise worn with a shirt in the same fabric.
Dai Fujiwara of Issey Miyake took his design team to the Amazon jungle on an elaborate "hunt for colour" for his spring collection and combined rainforest shades with those of the stained glass windows of a Rio cathedral for a show called Wearing Light, a display of sheer dresses and tunics in earthy greens and browns and silvery reptilian shifts.
The only nod to his signature pleating was a coat like a black carapace cut in concentric circles. Occasionally the clothes looked like abstract versions of army fatigues and whether the show needed or profited from such an exhaustive exploration trip was questionable, but the overall mood was graceful, gentle and the colours harmonious.
Saving the rainforest, rather than investigating its colour spectrum, is Vivienne Westwood's latest crusade. Everybody at her show including Tracey Emin in the front row and Anna Piaggi received a DIY leaflet urging people to wear their favourite clothes "until they fall apart".
Her collection seemed arbitrarily gathered, tucked and pinned together, but that's her way and her vigour and exhibitionism never falters.
This was a cheeky show in which striped boxers showed under cargo pants, dresses came in coloured plastic wrapping and crinolines in black plastic patchwork. But sweet dresses of khaki tulle, sexy black leather jackets and off-the-shoulder silk shifts prove Westwood can still deliver the wow factor.