Six fully striped looks in variations of green, blue, and pink hues opened the catwalk at Rei Kawakubo’s Spring/Summer 2027 show for Comme des Garçons Homme Plus. There was an immediate sense of lightness to the garments, most of them airy, pyjama-looking shirts, and frock coats, often layered together and paired over loose skirts and shorts.
Colour took centre stage in the collection from start to finish, especially when comparing this lineup with what Kawakubo presented in the past couple of seasons at the label. Juxtaposed with her deeply emotional and reflective Fall/Winter 2025 collection, To Hell with War, this one was titled If the War Were to End, a more hopeful and dreamlike approach towards a recurring, although not explored enough, theme in contemporaneity. Kawakubo’s design language is still always intentional.
The show progressed with a handful of pastel-printed combos, mostly light coats and jackets. Their patterns recalled camouflage prints that morphed joyfully, as if army apparel had become a distant, blurred memory.
Instead of battle helmets, summer hats in many sizes, with dangling silver hair strings, were worn by every single model, sometimes doubled to maximise proportions. Instead of combat boots, a few ankle boots were crafted with an extremely elongated, pointed-toe silhouette, curved in a way that resembled medieval footwear. How long have we been waiting for the war to be over?
When it comes to both design and philosophy, the vibrancy of it all continued through red tartan sets and graphic logo skirts and shirts in primary yellow, blue, and green, as well as lime and electric blue slung trousers with elastic waistbands.
The colour black, a personal favourite of Kawakubo and the main theme of the Japanese designer’s Comme des Garçons Fall/Winter 2026 collection, was not overlooked but was more subtle. It appeared in tailored jackets and trousers styled with bright-toned button-downs, as well as in the five final looks which closed the show, one of them featuring the words ‘my energy comes from freedom.’ May Kawakubo’s prophecy come true.
Words by Ketlyn Araujo
