REI KAWAKUBO CALLS FOR PEACE WITH NOT SUITS BUT SUITS SS26

## The Shaman's Uniform "Not suits, but suits" was her motto this season, with the corollary: "I had the feeling that we would really need to get someone powerful like a shaman to come to us to lead us to peace, love and fraternity." The sweltering heat couldn't deter Comme loyalists from stepping out in their finest regalia to see Rei Kawakubo's latest Homme Plus collection Saturday afternoon. At 83, Kawakubo continues to reshape menswear's fundamental vocabulary, but this collection felt different. More urgent. To a chorus of hypnotic chants, Rei sent out a procession of experimental suits that warped tailoring traditions to fantastic effect. Boys in baker boy caps with double bills came in a dizzying array of suits. Some came with cartoonishly large lapels, others had sleeves that peeled away at the shoulder to create a bulbous silhouette. This was Kawakubo operating at full conceptual power, transforming the basic building blocks of masculine dress into something unrecognizable yet undeniably compelling. ## Transformation Mechanics Skinny trousers could be unzipped so their drainpipe proportions would expand into a more relaxed fit, while deconstructed knits overlayed classic shirting in a divine finish. The functionality mattered as much as the form. These were not static garments but interactive propositions. A trouser that could shift from pencil to wide leg mid-wear represents a different relationship between clothing and body, between restriction and freedom. The collection was called Not Suits, But Suits, the most brilliant example being floral jackets in candy hues that were ruffled at the hemline. The contradiction embedded in the title captured Kawakubo's entire project: creating menswear that challenges every assumption about what menswear should be while remaining, fundamentally, clothing for men. ## The Heat and the Message Settling in for her show Friday night in an airless, sweltering, tightly packed concrete venue, less lofty thoughts occurred like: "We could really use some air conditioning." The physical discomfort became part of the message. From Tuesday June 24 to Sunday June 29, 2025, the capital hosts a new Parisian fashion week, the famous and unmissable Fashion Week. But this show felt less about fashion week's social mechanics and more about fashion's responsibility during crisis. MAPS KOREA "COMME des GARÇONS SHIRT" confirms the brand's continued collaboration with the Korean publication MAPS, suggesting this collection will receive the editorial treatment it deserves. Seiya Fujii's photography for the magazine captures the collection's shamanic energy without the runway's theatrical context. ## Market Reality Check CDG Homme Plus operates in fashion's experimental tier, where it was reported that the company and its affiliates generated a revenue "of over $280 million a year" in 2017. These pieces will retail between $800 and $2,500, positioning them as accessible avant-garde for customers willing to invest in Kawakubo's vision. If you caught some rave elements on any spring 2026 men's runways, you can probably trace it back to the knockout Comme des Garçons Homme Plus collection for spring 2018, the birthplace of sequin-paved Bermudas and tropical prints spliced into plainer clothes. Kawakubo's influence operates on a seven-year delay. What seemed impossible on her runway in 2018 became commercial reality by 2025. ## What Comes Next This collection arrives as masculinity faces renewed scrutiny. 1980s–90s: Avant-garde names like Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garçons redefined masculinity with deconstructed silhouettes and monochrome palettes. Four decades later, Kawakubo continues that project with candy colors and transformable silhouettes that refuse traditional masculine codes. It's harder to divine the future impact of Rei Kawakubo's latest effort, a meditation on tailoring, improbably thick and long black hair, and wonky, multibrim newsboy caps. But if history provides guidance, the fashion industry will spend the next decade catching up to what Kawakubo showed in that sweltering Paris venue. The shaman's uniform is ready. The question is whether the industry is ready to follow.