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Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

Comme des Garçons is one of the world’s most innovative and trailblazing fashion brands, helmed by its inimitable founder, Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo (b. 1942), who has a penchant for breaking fashion and cultural norms. 

Perhaps no designer better embodies fashion cool than Kawakubo. And when she makes industry veterans lose their cool, well, that’s a fashion moment. The only living designer apart from Yves Saint Laurent to have a retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, Kawakubo has permanently changed fashion — her designs for widely loved vintage Comme des Garçons dresses, shirts and other clothing and accessories challenge traditional ideas of beauty with a creative and transgressive exuberance.

After studying art and literature at Keio University in Tokyo, Kawakubo worked as a freelance stylist before establishing her own label in 1969. Comme des Garçons — which is also known as CDG — officially launched in 1973, and Kawakubo opened her first store in Tokyo three years later. She has since been instrumental in pioneering many concepts now familiar in contemporary fashion.

One of Kawakubo’s most iconic moves was her introduction of androgynous styles (Comme des Garçons means “like the boys” in French) with asymmetrical, twisted silhouettes that envelope the body. While she told the New York Times that the “basics of clothing lie in men’s fashion,” Kawakubo believes in the concept of humanness in clothes (she titled her spring 1995 show “Transcending Gender”). In the 1970s, when color-blocking was the norm, Kawakubo stuck to her monochromatic color palette dominated by shades of black with uncompromising dedication, although with evocative and powerful use of red and white.

Comme des Garçons is also known for an often shocking take on fashion. Deconstructed tailoring, violently slashed fabric and sculptural shapes are some themes that run through the brand’s collections, but Kawakubo never explains the meaning of her conceptual pieces, which fall somewhere between art and fashion.

For Kawakubo, the body is a mere support, an easel that holds the canvas on which she exercises her formidable creative energy in a perpetual quest to invent a brave new world using fabric, or its equivalent, as her brushstroke. Today's enthusiasts of 1990s fashion revere Kawakubo for her progressive pink plaid grunge dresses, velvet jackets and nylon skirts of the era, which resembled little else back then. They were modeled by the likes of Naomi Campbell and other luminaries of the industry. 

Even though the brand has over the years worked with other innovative designers such as Tao Kurihara and Junya Watanabe and has launched more commercial offshoots like PLAY, known by the iconic heart motif with eyes, the premier men’s line Homme Plus and the multilabel Dover Street Market that opened in 2004, the essence of Comme des Garçons remains Kawakubo’s otherworldly and undefinable creations, which are impossible to ignore.

Find vintage Rei Kawakubo shirts, jackets, day dresses and Comme des Garçons clothing on 1stDibs.

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Designer: Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons
Comme des Garçons F/W 2007/08 Black and blue wool midi coat
By Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons, Comme des Garçons
Located in Milano, IT
- Fall Winter 2007/08 - Sold by Skof.Archive - Black and Blue midi coat - Fitted to the body - Botton closure - Above knee length - Made in Japan Condition: Excellent Compositio...
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Early 2000s Japanese Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

Comme des Garçons F/W 1990 Blue sangallo lace jacket
By Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons, Comme des Garçons
Located in Milano, IT
- Fall Winter 1990/91 - Sold by Skof.Archive - Blue Sangallo lace cropped jacket - Fitted to the body - Snap buttons closure - Made in Japan Conditions: Excellent Composition: ...
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1990s Japanese Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

Comme Des Garcons Fall 2014 Rope Front Jumbo Knit Jacket Unisex
By Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons, Comme des Garçons
Located in London, GB
The most amazing, work of art jacket from the iconic Comme Des Garcons Fall 2014 Jumbo Knit collection. Unisex Unworn. Has Kawakubo's signature mix of avant guard and insouciance...
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2010s Japanese Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

CommeDesGarcons 2000 StuddedLeatherBelt Wrapped HalfDress PinstripeWool Topcoat
By Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons, Comme des Garçons
Located in Chicago, IL
Japanese Rei Kawakubo designed this wool-blend half-dress topcoat with embossed pinstripes for her Comme des Garcons Fall/Winter 2000 collection, which she titled "Hard And Forceful"...
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1990s Japanese Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

CommeDesGarcons 1999 RunwayFinale Overdyed Layered ConvertibleHalfDressSkirtCape
By Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons, Comme des Garçons
Located in Chicago, IL
As the key element of runway finale Looks 57 and 60 in Rei Kawakubo's collection for Comme Des Garcons Spring/Summer 1999 (see our photos of the Vogue coverage), this layered overdye...
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1990s Japanese Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

CommeDesGarcons 1997 AdultPunk Transparent EcruOrganza WhiteSilk Dinner Jacket
By Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons, Comme des Garçons
Located in Chicago, IL
1997 arguably marked the pinnacle of Japanese Comme des Garcons founder and fashion designer Rei Kawakubo's collection debuts when she introduced deconstructed asymmetrical "lumps and bumps" padding and transparent tops that both deformed and revealed female bodies. For her Fall/Winter 1997 "Adult Punk" collection, she debuted this transparent ecru organza pullover dinner jacket or evening oversized blouse, whose bodice and lower long sleeves are color-blocked with white textured silk-blend appliques and lined in white tulle that is hand-sheered above the outer hem. A recent Parisian exhibition at Musee de la Mode, "1997 Fashion...
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1990s Japanese Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

CommeDesGarcons 1997 RunwayLook11 Lumps&Bumps 2Piece SheerTop & DrapedSkirtDress
By Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons, Comme des Garçons
Located in Chicago, IL
In Rei Kawakubo's iconic Spring/Summer 1997 collection "Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body", which was nicknamed Lumps & Bumps, this Comme des Garcons navy set of transparent pullover long-sleeve net blouse and convertible translucent bias-cut long-or-short skirt/stretch tube dress debuted on the runway in "Look 11" among the Vogue coverage (see our photos). Significantly, this set repeats the opening "Look 1" theme of clothing-absence/body-presence with a see-through symmetrical top and asymmetrical draped bias-cut skirt. Variations were modeled in white, navy, red and gingham-print. Many had net-encased down pillows freely inserted into net underlays by the designer to shockingly distort the silhouettes, such as with two kidney-shapes on the back or a tube across the front of the hips. This set will likewise accommodate such padding that is apparent in the Vogue photos...
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1990s Japanese Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

CommeDesGarcons 1999 RunwayLook12 BiasCut TranslucentSatin SalmonPink MaxiDress
By Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons, Comme des Garçons
Located in Chicago, IL
In an atypical Japanese-dye color for Rei Kawakubo, in 1999 she designed this translucent salmon-pink bias-cut satin sleeveless maxi dress evening gown for her brand Comme des Garcons, which debuted on a model walking the Paris runway that Fall as "Look 12" among the Vogue photo-coverage of her Spring/Summer 2000 collection. The unusual V-neck shape creates a central drape in the front of the unlined dress that prevents the synthetic semi-transparent fabric from clinging to the torso, while still enabling the lower part to swoosh while walking. With the exception of the brand tag, all others were removed by the sole owner to eliminate bulk and visibility through the dress. If the buyer would prefer, the fabric can be made shinier and completely smooth with professional pressing. Please notice that In a couple of our photos the white drapery next to or below the dress was converted by 1stDibs auto-editing to appear like trailing elements. Also, as we used a backless mannequin, the rear side of the dress at the top is draping inward--not outward--in our photo. We have other items from this same Spring/Summer 2000 collection if the buyer may want to layer pieces for a look similar to the fashion show. This is such a beautiful minimal dress...
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Early 2000s Japanese Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

1985 Comme de Garcons Pleated Black Avant Garde Sleeveless Dress Rei Kawakubo
By Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons, Comme des Garçons
Located in Portland, OR
This rare vintage Comme des Garcons dress is from the 1985 runway collection. This avant garde black wool challis dress is vertically p...
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1980s Japanese Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

Junya Wantanabe 1996 Draped RedRoseJacquard & NavyCotton Convertible Cape Skirt
By Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons, Junya Watanabe
Located in Chicago, IL
In 1996, Japanese Junya Wantanabe made this sculptural red whorled-rose jacquard evening coat/dinner jacket to convert to an equally stunning asy...
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1990s Japanese Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

Comme des Garçons Grey and White plaid cotton dress
By Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Comme does Garçons Grey and white plaid sleeveless cotton dress. Size: small - 2/4
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Early 2000s Japanese Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

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Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons fashion for sale on 1stDibs.

Find an extraordinary range of authentic Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons fashion available on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing our collection of unique vintage and designer fashion to elevate your daily look or to introduce new colors to the dazzling formal wear in your wardrobe, this designer’s body of work includes elements of red and other tones. Most of the items here were designed during the 20th Century, but you can find examples that were created as recently as the 21st Century and Contemporary. Customers who are interested in this designer might also find the work of Issey Miyake Fete, VISVIM, and Levi's appealing. On 1stDibs, find haute couture, vintage and designer Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons fashion from top boutiques around the world. Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons fashion prices can differ depending upon time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $650 and tops out at $11,964, while the average work can sell for $2,840.

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