In the landscape of contemporary fashion, few names resonate as powerfully—and as provocatively—as Comme des Garçons. Founded in Tokyo in 1969 by the elusive and visionary designer Rei Kawakubo, the brand has grown from a niche avant-garde label into a global powerhouse that continuously challenges the norms of design, identity, and beauty. comme des garcons .uk More than just a fashion house, Comme des Garçons represents a philosophical approach to clothing, questioning the very fabric of what fashion can and should be.
The Origins: A Quiet Revolution
Rei Kawakubo did not come from a traditional fashion background. She studied fine arts and literature at Keio University, and her early career in advertising at a textile company later influenced her sensibilities about visual communication and branding. In 1969, she started designing clothes under the name “Comme des Garçons”—French for “like boys”—which would officially become a company in 1973.
From the beginning, Kawakubo was not interested in following trends. Instead, she sought to create something entirely new—garments that expressed abstraction, asymmetry, and imperfection. In a fashion world dominated at the time by Western ideals of glamour and form-fitting beauty, her deconstructed and often androgynous silhouettes presented a radical departure.
The Paris Debut: Redefining Beauty
Comme des Garçons made its Paris Fashion Week debut in 1981, and it sent shockwaves through the industry. cdg hoodie The collection, primarily composed of black, oversized garments with frayed edges and holes, was dubbed “Hiroshima chic” by critics who were simultaneously repulsed and fascinated. The garments challenged not only the aesthetic norms of fashion but also deeper societal expectations about femininity, sexuality, and elegance.
What Western critics initially labeled as “anti-fashion” was, in fact, a philosophical statement. Kawakubo was not trying to reject fashion, but rather to question its purpose, its assumptions, and its limits. She once famously stated, “I want to create something that didn’t exist before.” This ethos would go on to define not just her brand but an entire generation of designers influenced by her work.
Innovation Through Imperfection
Comme des Garçons has consistently challenged traditional design norms. Kawakubo’s collections often feature asymmetrical garments, padded in unusual places, or constructed in ways that disrupt the natural contours of the body. Rather than celebrating the conventional ideals of beauty, her work forces viewers to reconsider what beauty even means.
Some of the brand’s most iconic collections—like the “Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body” line from Spring/Summer 1997—featured dresses padded with bulges and lumps that distorted the wearer’s silhouette. These garments were seen not as wearable pieces but as walking sculptures. They blurred the lines between fashion and art, between clothing and commentary.
Commercial Success with Conceptual Integrity
While Comme des Garçons has always had a strong conceptual foundation, it also found surprising commercial success, especially in the realm of collaborations. Over the years, the brand has partnered with a wide array of companies—from Nike and Converse to Louis Vuitton and H&M—bringing its avant-garde aesthetic to a wider audience.
Perhaps most famously, the launch of Comme des Garçons PLAY in 2002 marked a shift toward more accessible fashion. With its iconic heart-with-eyes logo (designed by Polish artist Filip Pagowski), PLAY became an instant hit among younger consumers. The sub-line includes more wearable pieces—striped T-shirts, hoodies, and sneakers—but still retains the brand’s unmistakable edge.
This balance between high-concept runway fashion and commercially viable products is rare in the industry, and Kawakubo has managed to maintain her artistic integrity while expanding her brand’s global footprint.
Dover Street Market: A New Retail Experience
In 2004, Rei Kawakubo and her husband, Adrian Joffe, launched Dover Street Market, a multi-brand retail experience that completely disrupted traditional shopping environments. The space is curated like an art gallery, featuring installations from both Comme des Garçons and a selection of like-minded designers.
With locations in London, New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Beijing, Dover Street Market has become a beacon for fashion enthusiasts seeking something beyond the ordinary. It’s not just a place to shop—it’s a space to experience fashion as art, culture, and philosophy.
Cultural Impact and Influence
Comme des Garçons has left an indelible mark on fashion and culture. The brand’s influence can be seen in the work of designers such as Yohji Yamamoto, Martin Margiela, Rick Owens, and even more mainstream figures like Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. The concept of embracing imperfection, questioning norms, and pushing against aesthetic conformity can be traced directly to Kawakubo’s pioneering vision.
Moreover, Comme des Garçons has played a crucial role in popularizing Japanese fashion on the global stage. Alongside other groundbreaking Japanese designers, Kawakubo helped dismantle the Eurocentric dominance of the fashion industry and proved that innovation could come from anywhere.
The Mystery of Rei Kawakubo
Much of the allure of Comme des Garçons is tied to the mystique of its founder. Rei Kawakubo rarely gives interviews, seldom appears at her own shows, and prefers to let her work speak for itself. This absence from the spotlight has only intensified the reverence she commands in the industry. In 2017, she became the subject of the Met Gala and the accompanying Costume Institute exhibition—only the second living designer to receive such an honor (after Yves Saint Laurent).
The exhibition, titled “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between,” celebrated her ability to exist in liminal spaces—between fashion and art, beauty and ugliness, structure and chaos. It cemented her status not just as a designer, but as a cultural force.
A Legacy of Disruption
Comme des Garçons is more than just clothing. It’s a philosophy of experimentation, a rejection of comfort zones, and an embrace of the unknown. In an industry often driven by trends and commercial success, Rei Kawakubo has built a brand that stands for creativity in its purest, most uncompromising form.
For over five decades, Comme des Garçons has continued to evolve without ever diluting its core values. Whether through its avant-garde collections, its boundary-pushing retail spaces, or its wildly popular streetwear collaborations, the brand remains at the forefront of fashion—constantly redefining what fashion can be.
In the words of Kawakubo herself: “The only way to do something new is to throw away what you did before.” Comme des Garçons is the living embodiment of that philosophy—a perpetual reinvention of the self, and of style itself.
