Comme des Garçons

Comme des Garçons was founded by Rei Kawakubo in Tokyo in 1969 and presented its first Paris collection in 1981, arriving with a vocabulary of asymmetry, deconstruction and monochrome that challenged the prevailing conventions of Western fashion. The label's output has consistently refused easy categorisation, moving between clothing, fragrance, retail architecture and publishing as extensions of a single sustained inquiry into form, the body and the conditions of dress. Landmark collections include Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body (Spring/Summer 1997) and Broken Bride (Autumn/Winter 2005); a major retrospective was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 2017.

  • Comme des Garçons — Universe of Fashion, France Grand, 1998, front cover Comme des Garçons — Universe of Fashion, 1998, interior spread, eau de parfum ad and runway photograph

    REI KAWAKUBO / COMME DES GARÇONS — Universe of Fashion, France Grand, Universe Publishing, New York, 1998

    REI KAWAKUBO / COMME DES GARÇONS — Universe of Fashion, France Grand, Universe Publishing, New York, 1998

  • Rei Kawakubo, Comme des Garçons, Art of the In-Between, The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2017, rotated title, lightweight paper Rei Kawakubo, Comme des Garçons, Art of the In-Between, The Met 2017, isometric gallery plan, nine in-between states numbered

    REI KAWAKUBO / COMME DES GARÇONS — Art of the In-Between, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2017

    REI KAWAKUBO / COMME DES GARÇONS — Art of the In-Between, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2017