Chitose Abe presents the Sacai SS23 collection as part of Paris Fashion Week.
Collection notes
For sacai 2023 Spring and Summer Collection, sacai designer Chitose Abe has
freedom in mind, proposing clothes that bring with them an attitude of positivity,
gentle strength, dignity and joy.
Pleats
The season opens with an expanded exploration of her longtime preoccupation with pleats; the rigor and discipline of folds and their structure, juxtaposed with the joyful exuberance that comes of those folds opening when moving, symbolic of both strength and freedom.
Her pleat-mania is applied to Sacai house archetypes - the tuxedo, tracksuits,
trench and MA1, opening with a black tux / white shirt combination that’s melded,
pleated and spliced into one; pleats are stitched down and then open into a flare to
propose a new signature pant shape.
Prints
Flower prints - representing future life, hope and optimism - are abstract when
static, springing into their full form as the pleats open in motion. Riffing on the notion of strength in elegance, pockets come centre-stage, bringing with them an air of nonchalance, and an easy confidence, while suggesting new silhouettes that are born of hand / pocket positions, the final shape always ultimately defined by the wearer and the attitude with which they choose to carry themselves.
Construction
Abe looks to a sweet spot somewhere between couture construction and the
the attitude of a sweatshirt, crafting sequins on sportswear, and super-sizing the sleeves of silk taffeta shirts, to carve new sleeve shapes.
Runway
