Over her 45-year career, REI KAWAKUBO has radically transformed fashion. However, as the famously reclusive Comme des Garçons designer tells OLIVIA SINGER, hers is an agonising creative process—and the only way to move forward now is to never look back strong women make clothes forward now is to never look back.
In Place Vendôme, amid some of the world’s finest jewellery houses and just across from the Ritz, is a discreet passageway that leads to Comme des Garçons. Tucked between the glittering façades of Piaget and Cartier is the brand’s European headquarters, where, contained within a splendid 18th-century building, its very ordinary decor is in stark contrast to the historic glamour of this Parisian square. Here the floors are unlacquered, lighting comes by way of neon strips, and tables are of that plain wooden sort found in classrooms around the world. At the end of the room, raised a few feet above the rest of us, is a big glass window that gives a glimpse into the main office. When editors and journalists come to inspect her creations in the days after she presents them on the runway, this is where Rei Kawakubo sits, her chair precisely arranged so that while you examine her designs, you can just glimpse her silhouette. She is omnipresent yet removed. This is, of course, the perfect analogy for the way that she operates.
Denne historien er fra July 2018-utgaven av VOGUE India.
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Denne historien er fra July 2018-utgaven av VOGUE India.
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Current affairs
Elif Shafak’s work abounds with references, memories and a deep love of Istanbul. She talks to AANCHAL MALHOTRA about the significance of home and those who shape our recollections of the past
A drop of nostalgia
A whiff of Chanel N°5 L'Eau acts as a memory portal for TARINI SOOD, reminding her of the constant tussle between who we are and who we hope to become
Wild thing's
Zebras hold emerald-cut diamonds, panthers morph into ring-bracelets that move and a turtle escapes to become a brooch -Cartier's high jewellery collection Nature Sauvage is a playground of the animal kingdom.
Preity please
Two surprise red-carpet appearances and a movie announcement have everyone obsessing over Preity Zinta. The star behind the aughties’ biggest hits talks film wardrobe favourites, social media and keeping it real.
Honeymoon travels
Destination locked, visas acquired, bookings madewhat could stand between a newly-wed couple and pure, unadulterated conjugal bliss in some distant, romantic land? A lot, finds JYOTI KUMARI. Styled by LONGHCHENTI HANSO LONGCHAR
La La Land
They complete each other’s sentences, make music together and get lost on the streets of Paris—this is the love story of Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth.
A SHORE THING
Annalea Barreto and Mavrick Cardoz eschewed the big fat Goan wedding for a DIY, intimate, seaside affair that was true to their individual selves.
7 pheras around the buffet
Celebrating the only real love affair each wedding season: me and a feast.
Saving AI do
From getting ChatGPT to plan your wedding itinerary to designing your moodboard on Midjourneytech is officially third-wheeling the big fat Indian wedding
Love bomb me, please
Between breadcrumbing, cushioning and situationships, the language of romance seems to be lost in translation. SAACHI GUPTA asks, where has the passion gone?