Let s make the disclaimer up front that "jungle" isn t much used anymore; these are "rain forest" times. But anyone familiar with Tsumori Chisato s wanderlust—she chooses a different geographic milieu each season—will probably concur that vibrant jungle flora and fauna gave the Japanese designer no shortage of source material today. Remarkably, this wasn t quite enough for Chisato, so she drew from the 1920s and 1950s for her silhouette story. And alliteration aside, Jungle Jazz Age is one heck of a harmony, if you can accept the fact that it will consist of bejeweled baboon faces, coconut pom-poms, and toucan-shaped shirt collars. Chisato pushed the mash-up texturally, too; extra-long tinsel stood in for fringes and raccoon fur gave the hirsute impression of gorilla.
Those willing to wade through additional clichés—a barrel (or at least a half dozen) of neon-sequined monkeys swinging across two slouchy tops and a black pant—might best appreciate Chisato s arty jacquards. Some were slashed with sharply defined color, others were soft like watercolor, and one blanket-style sweater had strong modernist impact. A collection like this requires extreme cherry-picking, and you can certainly rule out the restricting lantern skirts and garish patchwork leather and sequin coat. To you, the sweater with half-moon sleeves and a fierce gorilla mug is a novelty; to Chisato, it s un-boring. Semantics is everything.
