The story of the woman behind the international sensation.
Rei Kawakubo, creator of COMME des GARÇONS (”like some boys”) was born in Tokyo in 1942. She had started school when Japan’s economy had crashed and the political system was still occupied by the US Army. It was a time where teens and children wore uniforms and outside of school they were dressed by their parents - fashion was for the older generation who would order ‘made to measure’ clothes from department stores.
Kawabuko graduated in 1964 and went on to work in the advertising department of Asahi Kasei, a major chemical company that produced acrylic fibers. It was here that she met Atsuko Kozasu (who went on to be a fashion journalist and editor at Marie Claire Japan). Kozasu encouraged Kawakubo to try and work as a freelance stylist on fashion shoots similar to the ones she had been involved in at Asahi Kasei. At the time, being a stylist was not an established career, so this was a big move. Kozasu says "there were hardly any stylists at that time, though today, of course, there are thousands of them"
Kawakubo took Kozasu’s advice and became a freelance stylist, but she found that she couldn’t find the right clothes for her styling. This led to her decision to start designing her own garments for styling sessions despite having no formal training in fashion. She began using the ‘COMME des GARÇONS’ brand name for the clothes she was designing, however, she did not establish the company until 1973.
When she began selling her designs, she was renting a workroom which she and 2 employees would work in. She would buy the fabric, design the clothes while her employees made the designs come to life. She began by selling these designs to what she described as an 'experimental fashion shop' called Belle Boudoir that was located in Ginza. She also sold her designs in a store called Milk, but they didn't want the COMME des GARÇONS label on the clothing, but instead their own - naturally, Kawakubo refused and insisted the branding was kept as her own.
"The best way to know me is to look at my clothing" Rei Kawakubo to Independent Magazine (2001)
It was in 1981 when Kawakubo took a huge step, deciding to showcase her womenswear collection in Paris for the first time (with very little time to plan it). The trip cost her a lot of money, but she knew that the trip would be a long-term investment into her career. Western buyers were reluctant to come to Tokyo to see her designs, so she knew that in order to make COMME des GARÇONS international, Paris is what she needed. The reviews for her show were very mixed with some loving her designs, but others were unsure about her unusual silhouettes. Despite these doubts, Kawabuko was quickly able to open her own office in France and joined the couturier's club - this would allow her to partake in the official Paris collections.
Since founding her label, she has consistently refused to define and explain the meaning behind her clothing collections. She told style.com in 2013 “I don’t like to explain the clothes, how I made them, the theme. It’s because clothes are just as you see them and feel them”. British journalist, Susannah Frankel, interviewed Kawakubo in 1996 and asked Kawakubo to explain her most recent collection ‘Body meets dress, - dress meets body’ (SS97). This collection remains one of Kawakubo’s most provocative lines. Frankel’s description of the response Kawakubo gave to her has become fashion folklore - “She sat down silently, drew a circle in black ink on a scrap of white paper, then disappeared” Frankel told The Weekend Australian in 2001. Through the symbol of the circle that Kawakubo drew (known as ensō in Zen Buddhism), was an expression of the meaning of all of her collections - emptiness. Kawakubo has previously said "I like to work with space and emptiness" in an article with Talk Magazine in 2000.
"I don't like to explain the clothes, how I made them, the theme, et cetera. It's because clothes are just as you see them and feel them" Rei Kawakubo to Style.com (2013)
Over the years, COMME des GARÇONS has built up an empire and become one of the world's most famous and recognisable fashion brands, even by the 1980s, COMME des GARÇONS had made a turnover of $100 million. Today, most people will be able to recall the brand's collaborations with footwear retailers, Converse and Nike. COMME des GARÇONS remains a very sought-after brand internationally.
Souces of information:
Rei Kawakubo: COMME des GARÇONS: The art of in between. By Andrew Bolton, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Rei Kawakubo and COMME des GARÇONS by Deyan Sudjic
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