For the return of Beautiful People to Paris after a three-year absence, designer Hidenori Kumakiri reached for “Plan D.”
Not as a sign of prior failure, mind you. The moniker marked the evolution of the “Side-C” concept of multi-orientation, multi-functional clothing into an approach of make-do resourcefulness applied to a more quotidian – and now co-ed – wardrobe.
Kumakiri said it was more congruent with today’s rapidly shifting circumstances like, say, a sudden weather change.
Cue a duck-blue duffel coat in solid blue wool that revealed a marled second side; double-ended black leather biker jackets, and nylon blousons and denim jeans that could be worn upside down, with the colors marking each side meeting in handsome gradients. There were also collaborations with ski label Phenix and legendary rock band Queen.
But easier fare didn’t mean Kumakiri’s considerable patterning skills were wasted.
One eyecatcher was a suede and twill jacket, which followed a so-called multi-structure concept. Composed of a double-sided sleeved part and a matching vest, it could be worn at least a dozen ways.
That’s the kind of inventiveness that will keep Beautiful People going, come rain or shine.
