It so happens that, about once a year, Atelier 1 boutique changes its location and you never know where to look for it next time. Recently, the Atelier 1 billboard appeared right in the city center, on Taras Shevchenko boulevard.
However, the boutique itself is hidden in the back yard, located in basement of old building with original brickwork and dilapidated boiler, which you’ll see in one of the halls of the store.
The store’s primary assortment is represented by Comme des Garcons fashion brand, known for very unusual, even extreme, designs.
Rei Kawakubo, the designer behind the Comme des Garcons label, studied fine arts and philosophy at Keio University in her native Tokyo. She started her Japanese label in 1969 and founded the Comme des Garcons Company in 1973. When Kawakubo arrived in Paris in 1981 to show her fist Comme des Garcons collection, it produced something of a shock. Critics branded her collection “Post-Atomic” and “Hiroshima Chic” for its use of jet black and dark colors, which were not so popular then as they are now. At the time Kawakubo’s concept, according to which clothes should express something other than sexuality, seemed absurd. Her style is quite architectural, concentrating on structure rather than exterior. It doesn’t obey regular notions of silhouette and bodyline, instead creating dramatic and inventive designs: upside-down pockets, de-emphasized shoulders and extra-long sleeves, jackets turned inside-out and put together in new ways. Now Rei Kawakubo has become a hero of the avant-garde. She was honored by the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1987 as one of the leading women in 20th century design.
While the new fall-winter 2008/2009 collection is just about to arrive, the whole space of the boutique is taken by items from the spring-summer 2008 collection. Most autumn garments are well-suited for early autumn, even for the windy weather. The men’s wear hall carries jumpers, shirts and jackets, as well as accessories: men’s luggage bags by Fred Perry of squared-shape and short handles (Hr 1,467), fedora hats made of beige and black straw (Hr 2,500) and funny pink, bright green and turquoise cotton socks (Hr 152). Girls can try on Comme des Garcons jackets and dresses, which resemble origami. But it might be not so easy to figure out how to put on some of those dresses, like the electric reaped silk dress (Hr 16,000), which looks like one of those crazy Bjork outfits. Jackets by another Japanese designer, Junya Watanabe (Hr 9,000), also offer some very unusual styles. However, if eccentricity appeals to you, don’t think too long because you may miss their 50 percent sale on all spring-summer collections.
One hall of the boutique is dedicated to CdeG’s line of unisex fragrances, most of which are the true avant-garde of the perfume world, same as the garments themselves. Their first ever perfume “Odeur 53” smells like nothing at first. You need to let it sit for a few hours to be able to perceive all 53 notes, which includes freshness of oxygen, fire energy, laundry drying in the wind, sand dunes, pure air of the high mountains, burnt rubber, flaming rocks etc. CdeG’s “Incense” series are devoted to five world religions. The fragrances are named after cities that symbolize different religions: “Zagorsk” (Russia) – Orthodox Christianity, “Ouarzazate” (Morocco) – Islam, “Kyoto” (Japan) – Buddhism, “Jaisalmer” (India) – Judaism, “Avignon” (France) – Catholicism. Exztremely bizarre CdeG’s “Synthetic” series offers five scents: “Garage” – very “mechanical,” with smells of petrol, oil and machinery; “Dry Clean” resembles the smell of dry-cleaned clothing; “Skai” is a mixture of scents of vinyl, burnt paper and rubber; “Soda” is citrus, sweet, and bubbly. Recently released new fragrances “The LUXE Champaca” and “The LUXE Patchouli” make you think of wild nature. Legend says one of the five arrows of Kamadeva, the Hindu god of love (known in the Western world as Cupid), was made of champaca tree. The smell of patchouli will hit you over the head just like everything else Comme des Garcons produces. All these fragrances are sold exclusively at boutique Atelier 1. So if you dare to wear such perfume, look for it there. Currently a small cafe is planned to be opened on the premises of the boutique, where the customers will be treated to light salads and low-calorie desserts.
Atelier 1 (10 Tarasa Shevchenka, 8 (050) 953-2363).
