COS autumn/winter 08/09 preview

Et voila! The first sneak preview on my little blog is for the COS a/w 2008/2009. It’s actually amazing how the brand grows and develops and among the overdone consumerist fashion we get a little gem on the high street. I might get bored at work towards the end of the day, but now I see the new collection and, frankly, I’m blown away!
The palette is ranging from fake blacks to ochre brown with touches of dusty emerald. The fabrics are heavy, rigid and never monotonous; the same goes for the jersey pieces – the melange knit gives depth and texture to the garments, and on the contrast to the current season where the cottons are crisp and the basic jersey is ubiquitous, the winter collection pieces are like body moulds – there’s no extra movement and the floating of the garment as you walk is strictly controlled by a stiff jacket with a very strong accent on the waistline. The one thing I love the most is how the decorative details are omitted and to replace them the imperfections are inserted: be it uneven hem on a vest, a little pleat on the button strap, or a super short turtleneck worn under a transparent piece to show how the part of the garment is missing…all those little COS touches are unimaginable for another high street brand. The strength of the collection is underlined by the references in style – I see a post WWII depression when the new look has been just created, but it did not yet take on the importunity of the elbow-length gloves and flower prints. Late 40’s of the 20th century were dark but hopeful, feminine but strict and reserved, hence the stiffness of the fabric, moulded bodice, tailleurs, modest hems… the blank stare of the model makes me think of old photographs where women were portrayed as cold divas with no frivolity, just empty grace. And as, of course, COS is quoting the recent work of Raf Simons for Jil Sander fashion house, we get the reference to modernity, since Mr. Simons never looks back. And even the catalogue itself is a pretty amazing object – it’s in a shape of a book which is missing its cover, it glides into a robust grey cardboard case with nothing but a logo printed on it – beautiful, fascinating, timeless…