
1990s · 2010s · French
Designer
Josephus Thimister
Production
haute couture
Material
radiata snakeskin
Culture
French
Movement
Minimalism
Influences
Japanese kimono draping · Gothic cape silhouettes
This avant-garde ensemble features a dramatically oversized cape constructed from radiata snakeskin, displaying the natural scaled texture and lustrous surface characteristic of reptilian leather. The cape extends in a wide, bat-wing silhouette with deep armholes and a flowing drape that creates sculptural volume. The garment appears to wrap or tie at the center front, with the snakeskin's natural pattern creating subtle tonal variations across the black surface. Paired with fitted shorts in matching snakeskin, the ensemble demonstrates high-fashion experimentation with exotic materials and unconventional proportions typical of contemporary avant-garde design.


These two pieces reveal how the kimono's architectural draping became fashion's most enduring obsession, surviving a century-long journey from Belle Époque propriety to '90s provocation. The opera coat's ceremonial sleeves and the snakeskin cape's dramatic wingspan both transform the body into something sculptural and otherworldly, using that distinctive kimono geometry where fabric becomes space and movement becomes theater.

Follow this garment wherever the graph leads
These two pieces reveal how the kimono's architectural draping migrated from 1980s art-to-wear into 1990s luxury sportswear, maintaining the same generous sleeve geometry but swapping mediums entirely. The earlier silk jacket uses translucent crêpe and delicate tree branches to create ethereal volume, while the snakeskin ensemble translates that same wing-like silhouette into something predatory and body-conscious.
These two pieces reveal how the kimono's architectural draping became fashion's most enduring obsession, surviving a century-long journey from Belle Époque propriety to '90s provocation. The opera coat's ceremonial sleeves and the snakeskin cape's dramatic wingspan both transform the body into something sculptural and otherworldly, using that distinctive kimono geometry where fabric becomes space and movement becomes theater.
Both garments speak the same sculptural language of drape and fold, but in radically different dialects. The black snakeskin cape cascades in deliberate, angular pleats that catch light like armor, while the red cashmere flows in softer, more liquid curves around the body's contours.
