With Robert Plant’s psychedelically-lilted, rubber band vocals on Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”— “all will be revEEEyeled”—floating through the sunlit, mist-filled Oratoire du Louvre around us, Junya Watanabe presented a fierce cast of future female travelers in both time and space. From a rough plywood backdrop six models emerged and stood, facing the audience right and left. Wearing gold chained black meshed masks and studded cowboy boots, their silhouettes were defined by ostentatiously technical habits, hanging with D-rings, strapping, carabiners, mesh sections and all the other accouterments of contemporary exploration wear.
Then unfolded the show, which Watanabe said was inspired by the lyrics from “Kashmir.” Interestingly, he added, he did not want it to be termed a “collection.” Perhaps the fact that he specified details of a customization collaboration that we saw none of on the runway was an indication that there was much more to see in the showroom. Still, as a piece of evocative fashion theater, this was a diverting morning watch. Just like Robert Plant—who had never visited Kashmir when he wrote the lyrics, which were based instead on a trip through southern Morocco —Watanabe used his source material as an imaginative point of departure.
Watanabe is clearly a Led Head of some vintage: his Spring 2006 show was also informed by the band. Where that show was a workwear ode, however, this one was a bleaker, dystopian projection uplifted by its sense of dark romance. As at menswear, Watanabe worked with Innerraum to craft protective looking masks and spaceship-like bags. The models were mostly clad in what looked like disassembled and rebuilt variations of motorcycling jackets; Lewis leather type classic Rebel Without a Cause wear, more modern kevlar and nylon pieces, and on one occasion a long shearling lined coat-dress that resembled a dispatcher’s military piece from the early 20th century. At the end these gave way to what looked like down-filled buffers that wrapped around the body in abstract shapes: not a million miles from Rick Owens’s recent donuts. Although less bountifully garlanded in feature-driven ornament than the opening six looks, the bulk of the showpieces glinted with bronze-colored tie-rings, rippled with fringe, with nubbles of studs. Pleated leather skirts and leather leggings topped high or low versions of those opening studded boots. A little (the original) Dune meets Mad Max, this fantastic pilgrimage of a collection took you to a dark, brooding, and beautiful place.
