Rei Kawakubo is one of the most influential and enigmatic figures in contemporary fashion. As the founder of Comme des Garçons, she has spent decades challenging everything we typically associate with clothing: beauty, the body, structure, gender. Her work is not about trends - it’s about inquiry. About form as a question. Clothing as a language of ideas.
The beginning: black as a new meaning
In 1981, Kawakubo presented her first collection in Paris. It was almost entirely black, with holes, asymmetry, and rough textures - garments on the verge of disintegration. Critics called it “Hiroshima chic,” and it wasn’t meant as a compliment. But in retrospect, that moment marked a turning point. A declaration that fashion could reject prettiness, perfection, and idealized bodies - and still be profoundly powerful.
Comme des Garçons: a brand that thinks
Despite its growing commercial success (especially through the more accessible PLAY line), the main Comme des Garçons collections have never aimed to be “wearable” in the conventional sense. They exist somewhere between fashion, sculpture, and theatre.
Kawakubo rarely explains her ideas - she creates space for interpretation. She doesn’t try to please. And that’s exactly why her work matters.
Key collections: from the body to abstraction
1997 - Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body
This groundbreaking collection introduced what many later called the “anti-silhouette.” Padded bulges sewn under stretch fabric distorted the human shape, creating unnatural volumes and outlines. Kawakubo challenged the fetishization of the female form - a dress didn’t have to flatter the body, it could redefine it.
2005 - Broken Bride
One of her most emotionally charged and theatrical collections. Deep red garments, fragmented forms, layers evoking torn bridal wear. The bride here is not a romantic figure, but a sacrificial one - part icon, part ghost, part relic. It’s a study of ritual, memory, and cultural symbolism.
2012 - Two Dimensions
In this collection, models looked like they had stepped out of a drawing. Flat silhouettes, cartoonish outlines - a meditation on the visual self in a culture of images. A human body rendered in two dimensions: image overtaking identity.
2020 - Not Making Clothes
Kawakubo publicly stated she no longer wanted to “just make clothes.” This collection was more performance art than fashion, with abstract shapes and architectural structures replacing traditional garments. It was a quiet but radical protest against consumerism - and a return to essence: the idea as the heart of creation.
2017 - Institutional recognition
Rei Kawakubo became only the second living designer (after Yves Saint Laurent) to be honored with a solo exhibition at The Met. She declined any biographical or contextual panels - only the clothes were on display. 140 looks placed in thematic dialogues: Fashion/Anti-Fashion, Beauty/Grotesque, Design/Not Design. It wasn’t just recognition - it was a clear statement: her work belongs in the canon of contemporary art and thought.
Not just clothes - an experience
Comme des Garçons was never about “looking good.” It’s about how you feel when you wear something that breaks all the rules. How you perceive the body when clothing no longer flatters but transforms. Rei Kawakubo never wanted to be part of the system - she wanted to rethink it. And that’s where her power lies.
If you’re looking to fashion for comfort, aesthetics, or trends - Comme des Garçons may feel difficult. But if you’re looking for depth, dialogue, and creative risk - Rei Kawakubo is already waiting for you on the other side.
