Aren't those pencils really chopsticks?

Junya Watanabe


Ghillies







Comme Des Garcons


Ballet Shoes



My title sums up the juxtaposition and peculiarity that Comme Des Garcons achieves with its innovative designs. I recently visited the FIT's "Sporting Life" Exhibition. The exhibit explored the relationship between active sportswear and fashion. I saw these peculiar ballet shoes in a plastic case. I did not know whether they were actual ballet shoes or just women's shoes. The design was exact to that of ballet shoes but the material looked hard enough not to be. I knew in the back of my mind it had to be Comme Des Garcons. No designer like Rei would ever conjure an intriguing idea of ballet shoes and use it with black bondage straps to make it ready-to-wear. So, I explored more shoes that Comme Des Garcons or its brother label, Comme Des Garcons Junya Watanabe mixed ideas with. I came across a pair of women's flats that Junya Watanabe did a few years back. They looked similarly to Scottish country dance shoes "Ghillies." It is interesting to see how functional types of shoes transition into "fashion"-able shoes. When I say "fashion," I mean that they are a style for everyday wear. These shoes take the aesthetic of sportswear but modify it to rid of its functionality, which can sum up most of fashion.