W Magazine China has turned its lens on Comme des Garçons in a new editorial that treats clothing as sculpture. Shot against a bare grey backdrop, the feature shows what Rei Kawakubo's house does best: it makes garments that change the shape of the body rather than simply dressing it.
A STUDY IN VOLUME
Photographer Zhong Lin takes a tactile, close-up approach to the collection. His camera follows every layer, fold and gathered seam. Heavy ruching and complex draped fabrics build voluminous silhouettes that seem to move even when the model is still, and the plain grey set leaves nothing to distract from them.
The result is portraiture pushed past its usual limits. The clothes are not a backdrop to the model; they are the subject, with their own weight, tension and presence.
BEAUTY WITH A CINEMATIC EDGE
Simone Gammino's makeup gives the story its mood. Bleached eyebrows and saturated, smoky shades of lavender and charcoal create a moody, film-like feel. Shot in macro detail, the beauty work feels polished and slightly unreal, like something between a portrait and a painting.
THE BODY AS ARCHITECTURE
Model Ivy Stewart brings real physicality to the shoot. Her poses deliberately stress the architectural tension in the garments, showing how Comme des Garçons pieces react to movement, posture and gesture. It is a reminder that Kawakubo's designs only fully come alive when they are worn.
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Black has dominated the Autumn Winter 2026 shows, but this is the house that made the case for it in the first place. Where others reach for black as restraint, Kawakubo treats it as depth — a colour with enough range to hold ruffles, sequins, fringe and volume without any of it reading as decoration for its own sake.
For anyone building a wardrobe rather than a runway look, the takeaway is the same one Comme des Garçons has offered for four decades: black is not neutral, and it is not simple. It is a structure you can wea
Comme des Garçons pieces work best given room. A sculptural black jacket or a volume skirt needs plain, quiet companions — a fine knit, a straight trouser, a flat leather shoe — so the construction stays the focus. For Lisbon autumn, layer light and keep the palette narrow; the interest is in the surface, the seam and the silhouette rather than the colour.
