Comme Des Garcons by Rei Kawakubo: Androgny with Colors
By: Boyd Davis
(Photo below: From the Comme Des Garcons by Rei Kawakubo Spring 2002 collection.)

Tokyo native Rei Kawakubo, the designer behind the label Comme des Garcons did not have any formal education in fashion. Her degree was literature.

She learned about fabric and eventually designing while working at Asahi Kasei, a Japanese textile company.

In 1969, when she was 27, Kawakubo formed Comme des Garcons. Her unconventional style caught the eye of the fashion world and Comme des Garcons enjoyed popularity during the 1970s and 1980s. It was in 1978 that she would launch her menswear line.

Comme des Garcon's aesthetics lies on the mix of bright and dark colors, whimsically placed buttons and pockets, de-emphasized shoulders and shapes. It is almost androgynous, something that was very noveau during the 1970s.

Menswear Spring 2005

Website: www.comme-des-garcons.com

COMME DES GARCONS
16, place Vendôme
75001 Paris
FRANCE

Press Contact:
Haruko SEKIHARA
Tel: +33 1 47 03 60 90
Fax: +33 1 42 96 20 33