I went to the Museum of FIT in special exhibitions gallery, there was “Expedition: Fashion from the Extreme” going on. Among those beautiful garments, I loved this red padded jacket with neck muffler. This garment is by Junya Watanabe for Comme des Garçons in the fall/winter 2004 collection. The point of this jacket is the tied neck-armour like piece that comes around the shoulder to the front. I think this object was included in the exhibition because according to the website, the purpose of this exhibition is to examine the fascinating subject: traveling to extreme environments such as North and South poles, the highest mountain peaks, the depths of the ocean, etc. In addition, fashion started to be influenced by these extreme expedition not until the 1960s. So the garments in this exhibition is a collection of a start, and the modern pieces that shows “extreme expedition”. This padded jacket can be described as a garment that can protect from the cold wind in the North or the South pole. It does not only keep the body warm, but also covers the body like it is protecting the body. Keeping the body warm and being protected are very important in those extreme conditions. I think this is why this garment is shown at the exhibition.
