Brand: PLAY COMME des GARÇONS x K-Way
Season: Fall/Winter 2021
Release Date: December 11
Price: £150 ($200)
Buy: Dover Street Market's website and stores, COMME des GARÇONS outposts
Editor's Notes: First seen earlier this year, PLAY COMME des GARÇONS's collaborative K-Way jackets are launching amidst an unusually warm winter here in America, an auspicious drop for an unpredictable climate.
The only silver lining is that perhaps there are a few more weeks of wear in which you could wear the CdG Play x K-Way collection, which realizes two styles of rain jacket: the Leon Half Zip and Claude Full Zip.
Though K-Way is pretty low-key outside of Europe, it's practically a household name on its own turf. Born (and beloved) in France, K-Way's packable weather-resistant outerwear are omnipresent amidst seasonal sprinkles.
A few fashion and food collaborations have brought the brand some international renown but K-Way is mostly content to play to its own strengths. That understated approach fits neatly into CdG PLAY's own approach, which leans hard into what the kids used to call "normcore": basic tees, cardigans, and hoodies.
CdG Play's packable K-Way jackets are as accessible as you'd expect, realized in bright tonal nylon ripstop and upgraded with its inimitable Filip Pągowski-designed heart logo on both sides, offered in sizes from XS-XXL.
As divisive as the heart logo is, it more than does its job: the simple red character has made CdG PLAY perhaps the most recognizable (and profitable) COMME des GARÇONS sub-label.
Simple and straightforward as it goes, CdG PLAY has only dished a few collaborations since it was founded nearly two decades ago in 2002.
There was an early mix-up of CdG PLAY and what's now known as Beatles CdG but the imprint's only real collaborations have been fairly recent, with Nike and The North Face dropping co-branded basics as part of last year's PLAY TOGETHER capsule, so the K-Way outerwear represents a brave new future of heart-branded outerwear.
Perhaps one day CdG PLAY will have as much variety in its product as CDG, COMME des GARÇONS' young-ish streetwear-leaning label.
