Rei Kawakubo's 1981 Paris debut for Comme des Garçons, called Hiroshima chic: black, distressed, unfinished; Keio; 1969 and 1973; the 1982 holed sweater in the V&A
Kawakubo on the 1981 debut, in her own words: "I never intended to start a revolution. I only came to Paris with the intention of showing what I thought was strong and beautiful." Of the 1982 sweater she has said the holes are not tears, and might be considered another form of lace.
Comme des Garçons (@commedesgarcons_official) shows in Paris on 3 October. Photos: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The weekly
NewsletterWeeklyOne email a week. Every post from the week, and what didn't fit on a slide.Free. Never shared. Unsubscribe any time.
The post, as it ran
01REI KAWAKUBO FIRST SHOWED COMME DES GARÇONS IN PARIS IN 1981. CRITICS CALLED HER EARLY COLLECTIONS 'HIROSHIMA CHIC'.
02THE CLOTHES WERE MOSTLY BLACK, DISTRESSED AND UNFINISHED, WITH UNFINISHED HEMS.
03GARMENTS BY COMME DES GARÇONS IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM'S 2017 EXHIBITION, REI KAWAKUBO: ART OF THE IN-BETWEEN.
04KAWAKUBO HAD STUDIED ART AND LITERATURE AT KEIO UNIVERSITY. SHE STARTED THE LABEL IN TOKYO IN 1969 AND INCORPORATED IT IN 1973.
05'BEING BORN IN JAPAN WAS AN ACCIDENT,' SHE SAID OF THE CRITICS. 'THERE IS NO DIRECT CORRELATION TO MY WORK.'
06TWO BLACK LOOKS FROM THE SAME 2017 EXHIBITION.
07A BLACK SWEATER OF HERS FROM 1982, HAND-KNITTED WITH HOLES PLACED AT RANDOM, IS IN THE V&A, GIVEN BY THE DESIGNER.
08THE MET'S 2017 SHOW WAS ITS SECOND FOR A LIVING DESIGNER, AFTER YVES SAINT LAURENT IN 1983.