Fashion By Rei Kawakubo

THE BEGINNING AND THE FAME

COMME des GARÇONS is a fashion label established by Rei Kawakubo in 1969 in Tokyo. It is incorporated in 1973 as COMME des GARÇONS Co. Ltd and is headed by Kawakubo even till this day.

After studying fine arts and literature at Keio University and working in a textile company as well as being freelance stylist till 1967, Kawakubo decided to establish COMME des GARÇONS because she wanted liberty. She needed somewhere where she could be independent to translate her thoughts into clothing without meddling from financial bankers. That was one of her motivations and remains one today. When it was established, Kawakubo designed the typeface for the logo despite having little background in design.

COMME des GARÇONS means “like the boys” in French. As noted by Hamish Bowles in 1993, it was “chosen for its euphony but it proved ironically apt for designs that challenged the conventional feminine ideal.”

That was how COMME des GARÇONS found fame. In 1975, when she opened her first boutique, Kawakubo stated explicitly that she is catering to women who are not swayed by what their husbands think.

Under the label, Kawakubo also crafted runway pieces that challenged the conventions of fashion and beauty. The pieces were so unique that they had no resemblance to anything that has been done before. Designer Hiroyuki Horihata told W magazine that all Kawakubo wanted to do was to “make clothes that nobody has ever seen” and that she wanted extreme beauty.

While she won plenty of praises, the extreme beauty that Kawakubo was striving for also created a lot of backlash at that time because people were used to seeing elegant pieces by Chanel, in contrast to Kawakubo’s deconstructed and anti-fashion pieces.

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... brand will be able to maintain its identity and stay afloat if something unfortunate were to happen to her.

Perhaps it is time for Kawakubo to be defiant to herself and let COMME des GARÇONS slowly develop a brand identity that is less reliant on her existence but more on her principles.

“OUR SERVICE AND DISPLAY AT THE SHOPS AS WELL AS THE CLOTHES THEMSELVES SHOW OUR ATTITUDE AND COMETIMES REFLECT OUT CURRENT BUSINESS POLICY. OPENING THE SHOP DOORS WIDE FOR ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE TO BUY THE CLOTHES IS ONE WAY OF DOING BUSINESS BUT I WANT THE SHOPS TO BE COMFORTABLE FOR THOSE WHO LIKE COMME des GARÇONS. THE SHOP SPACE, ALONG WITH THE CLOTHES, SHOULD PRESENT SOMETHING. HAVING SHOPS ON THE BACK STREETS OF OFF THE AREAS FOR FASHION BOUTIQUES IS ONE THING, FOR EXAMPLE. RECENTLY, I DON’T THINK THAT GOOD SERVICE MEANS OFFERING A WIDE RANGE OF PRODUCTS.”

—REI KAWAKUBO