Excerpt: JUNYA WATANABE SPRING 2023 - PARIS FASHION WEEK.

 

 "...The creative drive, to which the early 80's offered  for designers, at least in fashion, was that inspiration drawn from the punk ethos which developed as a do-it-yourself backlash against conservative styles.  That ironically, through a mix and match and stylized messy look, actually was inspired by the modernism looks of the 1950's.  Updating the aesthetics into a fusion of recut and oversized blazers, ties and tapered trousers. That in turn, was as a backlash against hippie esque styles that had spilled over into the 70's.  

The reserved and enigmatic Japanese fashion designer Junya Watanabe has been a stalwart adherent to the 80's fashion imprint, redefining his study of that era of originality.   And it was when he held his debut runway show in 1993 at in Paris, revealing his signature brand for the first time to a European audience.  With its deconstructed stylizations, that we got to see how he began, in a respectful manner, in separating himself from his mentor, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons fame.

After twenty nine years of consistency showing at Paris Fashion Week, Watanabe's fixation of the early 1980's continues to be his everlasting template and his Spring 2023 collection has further instilled Watanabe's devotion of reworking 80's fashion, more so its counter culture looks..."

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Full review:  https://chiasmusmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/11/junya-watanabe-spring-2023-paris.html 

(A.Glass 2022)