01REI KAWAKUBO HAS SHAPED FASHION FOR OVER FORTY YEARS, AND SHE STILL
REFUSES TO EXPLAIN HER WORK. THE FOUNDER OF COMME DES GARCONS
GIVES ALMOST NO INTERVIEWS, RARELY DECODES A COLLECTION, AND LETS
THE CLOTHES, HOWEVER STRANGE, SPEAK ENTIRELY FOR THEMSELVES.
02SHE ARRIVED IN PARIS IN 1981 AND DETONATED IT. HER CLOTHES, BLACK,
TORN, HOLED, ASYMMETRIC, HORRIFIED CRITICS WHO CALLED THEM
POST-APOCALYPTIC AND ANTI-FASHION. SHE HAD NO FORMAL FASHION
TRAINING. SHE JUST REJECTED EVERY RULE ABOUT A FLATTERING GARMENT.
03SHE MADE ANTI-FASHION INTO A PHILOSOPHY. KAWAKUBO DESIGNS AROUND
IDEAS OTHER HOUSES WOULD NOT DARE TRY: ABSENCE, BROKENNESS, LUMPS
AND BULGES THAT DEFY THE BODY. HER 1997 'LUMPS AND BUMPS' COLLECTION
PUT PADDING IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES, ENTIRELY ON PURPOSE.
04AND SHE BUILT A REAL EMPIRE ON IT. COMME DES GARCONS RUNS DOZENS OF
LINES, AND KAWAKUBO CREATED DOVER STREET MARKET, THE CULT RETAIL
CONCEPT SHE CALLS 'BEAUTIFUL CHAOS', NOW IN CITIES AROUND THE WORLD.
SHE IS AS SHARP A MERCHANT AS SHE IS A PROVOCATEUR.
05THE STORES ARE PURE KAWAKUBO. NO TIDY BRAND ZONES, JUST A LABYRINTH
WHERE A TINY UNKNOWN LABEL SITS NEXT TO PRADA OR BALENCIAGA, ALL
CHOSEN BY HER EYE. SHE SELLS DISCOVERY, NOT CONVENIENCE, THE SAME
INSTINCT THAT DRIVES THE CLOTHES.
06THAT IS THE MYSTIQUE. IN AN INDUSTRY THAT EXPLAINS AND MARKETS
EVERYTHING TO DEATH, KAWAKUBO STAYS SILENT AND LETS YOU WRESTLE
WITH THE WORK. ONE OF THE HARDEST DESIGNERS TO DECODE, AND ONE OF
THE MORE IMITATED. SHE DOES NOT TELL YOU WHY. SHE CHANGES WHAT IS NEXT.