I find many of the pieces absolutely fascinating and so much more practical than many a boring standard outfit seen on some other catwalk shows. It may not be to everyone's taste but it is to mine, and were I of a mind to spend vast amounts of money on designer clothes, it would be on clothes by Thom Browne, Comme Des Garçons, Gareth Pugh, Yohji Yamamoto, Junya Watanabe, and the odd piece by Ann Demeulemeester, Rick Owens, and Threeasfour.
And yes I would most certainly wear them.
Thom Browne and others present shows of unwearable clothes (though I personally wouldn't put much of the recent Comme Des Garçons show in that category) but it is not just about publicity in my view. These designers are presenting new ideas in fashion, and many of those ideas do filter down in some way. At any rate I have noticed ideas from Thom Browne's extremely unwearable shows being copied by other designers and appearing on the high street some years down the line.
I have always shuddered at the thought of wearing a puffer jacket and have never been able to bring myself to wear one despite how practical they are in very cold weather. Until I saw this jacket:
http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/12.....0x1920.jpg
Junya Watanabe took the ugly puffer jacket idea and created something stunning, that I-who-hate-puffer-jackets would LOVE to wear. I'd call that genius, myself. Same with many a Comme Des Garçons piece.
Sure, they take risks, and I often hate many of the pieces, but I'd still rather look at those collections than the boring ordinary 'wearable' collections that I personally would never wear, or at least, when I have done I have felt embarrassed and inauthentic and have wanted the ground to swallow me up.
For me it's about new ideas, trying things, MOVING FASHION FORWARD!
Sarah