Comme des Garçons
Comme des Garçons (French for ‘Like the Boys’) was founded in Tokyo (1969) by the legend Rei Kawakubo. Rei remains an enigmatic character of fashion, preffering to shy away from the limelight and leave her thought processes a mystery. The brand name itself remains somewhat mysterious. Some groups claim the name comes from Françoise Hardy’s ‘Tous les garçons est les filles’. Others claim the names stands for the empowerment of women Kawakubo and Comme des Garçons represents. Truth is, we don’t know as these questions are always left unanswered.
Kawakubo landed in Paris in 1981 with immediate impact - her collections went directly against the french chic fashion of the times, presenting clothes that were worn, asymetric, and deliberately unfinished, in a palette of near total black - hiroshima chic. Though Comme des Garçons today is vastly different from the brand in 1981, Rei has always been consistent in defiance of beauty as convention defines it. Her work interrogates the body, challenges gender, and treats the runway as a philospical statement. Dressing to showcase uniqueness and individuality. This message has led Rei to amass quite the population of brand loyalists throughout the years, yet keeping things new and interesting for the younger fans through the runways and various collaborations.
The ability to serve such a variety of consumers in the CDG Universe has largely come from the use of sub-lines. Comme des Garçons Homme and Comme des Garçons Homme Plus represent the core menswear output — the former cleaner and more wearable, the latter more experimental and runway-driven. Comme des Garçons Homme Deux occupies a quieter, tailoring-focused middle ground. PLAY is the accessible entry point, recognisable by its heart-with-eyes motif (Converse with the hearts), beloved globally and deliberately separate from the avant-garde core. CDG SHIRT focuses on refined shirting. Black Comme des Garçons and Junya Watanabe — helmed by Kawakubo's long-time protégé — round out the family, with Junya's work often incorporating technical fabrics and Western workwear references in unexpected ways.
The world of Comme des Garçons is vast. When we think of anything design related, there isn’t much the brand hasn’t been involved in throughout the years, from Clothing, Footwear and Accessories, to Furniture, Editorial Prints, Fragrance and more, you can look for years, and will always be surprised of a Comme des Garçons item you come across or a strange collaboration from 25 years ago (Before big brands over-saturated the market).
The Spring/Summer 1997 "Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body" collection — known informally as the "lumps and bumps" collection — remains one of the most discussed runway moments in fashion history, using padded forms beneath gingham fabric to challenge the silhouette itself. The Autumn/Winter 2014 "Not Making Clothing" collection similarly pushed the boundaries of what a garment can be.
