In a mere 15 looks at the Russian Embassy in Paris, Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo offered a glimpse of her limitless artistic universe — swirling prints collaged out of everything from the strange Mannerist portraits of 16th-century painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo to starry-eyed Japanese anime.

It seemed as if Kawakubo, following a very methodical exploration of her oeuvre at the Costume Institute earlier this year, wanted to embrace a new abstract playfulness.