Where Optimism Overflows
Review of Comme Des Garçons Homme Plus Spring 2027 Men’s Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
War was on the mind of Rei Kawakubo as the designER presented her spring 2027 collection. In what could be considered an ongoing collection of works on the subject.
‘If The War Were to End…’ follows on from fall 2025’s ‘To Hell With War’ that brought to the runway the very thing not being said by an industry that shy’s away from making political statements, especially around the topic of war. And even though it has been avoided by many, Kawakubo has never been one to follow the whims and trends of fashion with a capital F. Today’s show opened us up to a world of peaceful possibility, that dared to ask the question of whether we will see a time without war, and if we do how will we mark the occasion?
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Anti-War, Abundant Joy, Imagining Peace
Unafraid to put her head above the parapet – if not literally than in her work, as it is well-known that an interview with the Comme des Garçons Homme Plus creative director is a rare commodity that a magazine can leverage for years after the fact – spring 2027 was the timely and pointedly titled ‘If the War Were to End..’
A topic that has been explored in recent seasons – fall 2026 was a collection accompanied by medieval helmet-cum hockey-mask accessories and fall 2025’s actual army helmets were ironically decorated with flowers and decadent fabrics, in direct opposition to their original purpose.
Had guests known what title was to accompany the show, you would not be able to fault them for conjuring up a vision of what type of show they were going to witness. As it turns out the context was not spoken of prior to the collections debut. This made what the designer presented all the more impactful. But, back to the show’s title, and on first receiving it in their inbox the reader could be forgiven for asking the question that will almost always come next (taking into consideration this period we are living through) i.e. “Which war?” But if peace were to prevail, would we take to the streets and dance? And if so, would it look anything as joyous as the unexpected finale of today’s show, when the cast of models took to the runway as a hoard of jubilant energy.
The theme of lightness was channelled as only Kawakubo could and surprisingly it aligned with Julian Klausner’s Dries Van Noten show theme on Thursday. Referring to his prints as a peaceful camouflage, coming together as it did from patterns developed from “pictures of shadows of trees combined with a botanical embroidery,” at Comme, camouflage manifested in much the same way with a palette of pastel hues used to soften the hard reality of the prints original purpose – to protect soldiers from enemy forces. Next spring, when it can only be hoped the world is in a better place, repurposing a weapon of war into a light-hearted wardrobe that celebrates the designers take on the wonderful world of whimsy will be an ask, not wholly outside of the world of possibilities.
Colour and graphic print were a dominant vehicle to carry the message of hope, those soft pastels were joined by almost neon brights and electric blue, but the collaboration with Slovenian graphic designer – whose body of work is reminiscent of a genre of Polish movie posters that I have recently found myself lost in – will have created the most striking, and no doubt covetable (to the designers dedicated fan base) pieces in the collection. The Comme des Garçons font was reworked and resized, then spliced onto a patchwork of brights. These looks felt profoundly optimistic yet still carried the rebellious spirit of punk that protests wars and rallies against apathy.
THE WRAP UP
If there has been one overriding message to emerge from the spring 2027 season, it is that designers are searching for reasons to be optimistic and find light in these dark times, without ignoring reality. If the War Were to End felt like an extension of Rei Kawakubo’s singular vision, transforming graphic symbols of conflict into expressions of hope through colour and joyful exuberance.
