Jun Takahashi is no stranger to an artistic collaboration. In the past, he’s tacked Cindy Sherman’s images onto his clothing; drawn inspiration from the set and characters of “Twin Peaks;” and worked the soft, squeezable — and subversive — works of the French plush artist Anne-Valérie Dupond into his own designs.
This season, though, was a special one. Takahashi has been spending more time painting and, as a result, has developed a new appreciation for the work of the Belgian artist Michaël Borremans.
The designer used Borremans’ impressionist paintings of historic soldiers in uniform, and still-lifes of flowers on crinkly, reversible linen jackets; oversize cardigans made from paper and rayon; sweatshirts with hidden slashes at the elbows, and even slip-on sneakers.
These were clothes for people who wear their art, rather than their heart, on their sleeve.
But paintings were only part of the story. Takahashi also worked polka dots, lace flowers and stylized teardrops into handkerchief-style patterns for patchwork shorts, quilted robes and scarves in bright red and blue.
The colors chimed with those in Borremans’ paintings, and the patterns added a graphic element to the collection.
Outerwear was strong, too, with Takahashi adding cotton flak vests and leather jackets with zippers and clip fastenings to the mix. For rainy days, which are supposed to arrive in Paris soon, there were nylon anoraks in primary colors, bright as a box of crayons, for all the artists in the room.
