For Spring Summer 2009, Tao Kurihara summoned a misted collection for Tao Comme des Garçons that marched with discipline and floated with tenderness. Drawing from the fogbound traditions of Scottish Highland dress, she reimagined garments once built for ceremony and battle into something lighter and more personal for contemporary women.
Kurihara’s pageant of folkloric, almost dreamlike fashion featured models dressed in short, sheer jackets that shimmered with frogging and brass buttons. Tight breeches wrapped their legs like second skins. Busby hats crowned their heads, blooming high and soft against the dim light. There were cutaway toppers that hinted at hidden layers. Plissé kilts spun in the breeze and defied the weight of old traditions. All of it was adorned with puffy pompoms and voluminous frills.
One silhouette that Kurihara returned to throughout her work was the small jacket. It was rich with storytelling at the neck, shoulders and sleeves. This became her signature. A quiet ritual that appeared in every season she touched. Shaping it in many ways, each with her distinct and masterful treatment.
In Spring Summer 2009, that small jacket appeared in the form of this Stripe Gathered Bolero. Featuring bold stripes, brass buttons, pleats, and folds. This sculptural piece captured the full spirit of the season. Clinging onto the body with quiet drama.
By 2011, the winds around Tao Comme des Garçons had shifted. Kurihara turned her attention to the softer world of Tricot Comme des Garçons, where her ideas could grow in new ways. A decade later, Tao was quietly revived. It merged with Tricot Comme des Garçons in 2021 and continued the delicate conversation between past and future that had always been at the heart of Kurihara’s designs.
Tagged Size M
Measurements:
Shoulders: 40cm
Length: 53cm
PTP: 39cm
