Mame Kurogouchi RTW Spring 2023

Maiko Kurogouchi is always fascinated by the details of everyday life, especially those involving vanishing crafts from Japan, which she had ample opportunity to rediscover during the pandemic.

The main source of inspiration for her spring collection was bamboo crafts, in particular the works of 20th-century master weaver Iizuka Rokansai, who transformed everyday items into intricate works of folk art.

As always, Kurogouchi played with a range of textile textures for silhouettes that ranged from demure and classic to experimental and seductive. Her palette oscillated between the blues and greens of a living bamboo grove, and the earthy browns of the material once it has been transformed.

Details taken from baskets were distilled throughout the collection, printed on filmy high-neck tops and leggings; used as piping on pared back tailoring and knits; appearing in the weave of a silk-cotton jacquard; elevating the utilitarian shape of a jacket, or lending their shapes to a daring figure-hugging jumpsuit.

Cord embroidery, a technique Kurogouchi has been employing with great effect over the years, gave a corsetry feel to a body and the slinky yet structured final dress.

For her Paris return, Kurogouchi said she wanted to make sure that her collection was not just seen as delicate and feminine but as a thoroughly modern proposition. Shown in the arty-rough setting of the Palais de Tokyo, it was the pieces that paired her sophisticated handwork with a more sensual direction that checked all three boxes with ease.