The houses.

Comme des Garçons

Rei Kawakubo treats pattern-cutting like an argument. The pieces that win it are worth keeping.

Rick Owens

The early Paris years, before the silhouette settled into a uniform.

Yohji Yamamoto

Volume with intent. A Yohji shoulder still falls like nothing else.

Maison Margiela

Deconstruction only works when the construction underneath was sound. His was.

Helmut Lang

Vienna minimalism in 90s New York, utility hardware and all. Still reads as modern.

Jean Paul Gaultier

Structure in places most tailoring goes soft. Decades on, it still holds that shape.

Prada

Miuccia made beauty out of fabrics the industry called ugly. The nylon proved her right.

Burberry

The gabardine still does its actual job: keeps the rain out.

Chloé

Soft tailoring, cut close enough to still move like a dress.

Undercover

Jun Takahashi's punk instincts, filtered through a pattern-maker's discipline.