“It was for an aesthetic reason, that I gave my business… a French name- to signify that the colors would be muted, as in men’s clothes, not flamboyant, as many women’s fashion is and because I liked the lilt of the French.”
Rei, 2017.
Have you ever looked at something so wrong that it begins to feel right? Such are the visions at Comme Des Garçon. As I skimmed through the pages of Art of the In-between, the words of Rei Kawakubo began to build an image of Comme Des Garçon in my head. But with every flip of page, the image was destroyed with contradictions, curiosity and undefinability. It became evident that Comme was never made to be understood. It is an idea, with and without concept that isn’t meant to appeal. Rei designs, with the absence of concept, provide endless and unpredictable directions for the outcomes.
Earlier identified as a cult, Comme is simply colored in Black. Over the years the brand has showcased various collections that defy the rules of fashion and the art of making clothes. Today the brand is majorly recognized for its collaborations with paradoxical brands such as Converse, Supreme, Nike and artists such as Cindy Sherman and Filip Pagowski. Comme Des Garçon expresses the co-existence of fashion and thought in culture and commerce while discovering newer perspectives unrestricted by experience. The complexity of the brand is better not dissected as Comme is clearly beyond criticism celebrating both its negative and positives to create something new.
Figure 2: Julien d’Ys wigs, Vogue 2017
Bibliography:
Julien d’Ys, 2017, Inside Comme Des Garcons’s Spectacular Runway Beauty with Collaborator Julien d’Ys, Vogue Online, https://www.vogue.com/article/hair-stylist-julien-dys-comme-des-garcons-runway-scrapbooks
Nick Knight, 2016, Comme Des Garçon gallery, SHOWstudio for AnOther Magazine, http://showstudio.com/project/comme_des_garcons/editorial_gallery
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