Rei Kawakubo (born 1942, Tokyo) never trained as a fashion designer. She studied fine art and literature, worked in advertising, and started making clothes because she could not find what she wanted. Comme des Garçons (“like the boys”) became a company in 1973 and arrived in Paris in 1981 with black, torn, shapeless clothes that critics called “Hiroshima chic”. Forty-five years on, she is still the most radical designer working. She has padded bodies into new shapes, declared she was “not making clothing”, and became only the second living designer to get a solo show at the Met. This guide maps her most important collections and links to every one we have reviewed.
Comme des Garçons at a glance
| Founder | Rei Kawakubo, born 1942, Tokyo |
| Trained | Fine art and literature at Keio University; no formal fashion training |
| Label started | 1969; company founded 1973 |
| Paris debut | 1981 |
| Main lines | Comme des Garçons, Homme Plus, Shirt, Play, Noir; designers Junya Watanabe and Tao Kurihara grew up inside the company |
| Retail | Dover Street Market, opened in London in 2004 |
| Business partner | Adrian Joffe, her husband and the company’s president |
| Signatures | Black, asymmetry, holes, padding, raw edges, sculptural volume, the “Play” heart logo |
Timeline: Rei Kawakubo and Comme des Garçons
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1969 | Kawakubo starts designing womenswear under the name Comme des Garçons |
| 1973 | The company is founded in Tokyo |
| 1978 | Homme menswear launches |
| 1981 | First Paris show; with Yohji Yamamoto, she changes the direction of fashion |
| 1982 | The “lace” sweater full of holes becomes a symbol of the anti-fashion movement |
| 1997 | Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body; costumes for Merce Cunningham’s dance Scenario |
| 2002 | Play line launches with the Filip Pagowski heart logo |
| 2004 | Dover Street Market opens in London, plus pop-up “guerrilla stores” |
| 2014 | Announces she is “not making clothing” any more, only objects for the body |
| 2017 | Art of the In-Between at the Met, its first solo show for a living designer since Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 |
Comme des Garçons’ key collections, 1981 to now
Kawakubo has shown more than 80 collections in Paris, so this is the shortlist that matters, plus every season we have reviewed.
| Season | Collection | The idea | Ayerhs review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Paris debut | Black, torn and loose: the “Hiroshima chic” shock | – |
| Fall 1982 | The “lace” sweater | Knits riddled with holes, beauty in imperfection | – |
| 1988 | Noir | Black as a statement, refined | – |
| 1994 | Metamorphosis | Clothes changing shape and identity | – |
| Fall 1996 | Flowering Clothes | Romantic volume, Kawakubo-style | – |
| Spring 1997 | Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body | Gingham dresses padded with lumps and bumps | Read |
| Fall 1999 | Transformed Glamour | Eveningwear taken apart and reassembled | – |
| Fall 2005 | Broken Bride | Ruined Victorian bridalwear | – |
| Fall 2012 | Two Dimensions | Flat, paper-doll clothes | Read |
| Spring 2014 | Not Making Clothing | Sculptural forms instead of garments | – |
| Fall 2016 | 18th-Century Punk | Rococo volume meets punk aggression | Read |
| Fall 2017 | The Future of Silhouette | Shapes with no reference to the body | Read |
| Spring 2025 | – | Our review | Read |
| Fall 2025 | – | The Strength of Smallness | Read |
| Spring 2026 | – | Beauty within the broken | Read |
The 5 collections that defined Comme des Garçons
1. The 1981 Paris debut
- What happened: Oversized, asymmetric black clothes with frayed edges, shown when Paris loved shoulder pads and colour.
- Why it mattered: Critics were horrified; younger designers were electrified. Black became fashion’s default colour for the next decade.
2. The “lace” sweater, Fall 1982
- What happened: Sweaters knitted with deliberate holes, like moth-eaten lace.
- Why it mattered: It argued that imperfection could be beautiful, an idea at the root of deconstruction in fashion.
3. Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body, Spring 1997
- What happened: Stretch gingham dresses with down-filled pads at the hips, back and shoulders. Critics nicknamed it “Lumps and Bumps”.
- Why it mattered: It asked who decides what a “good” body looks like, years before that was a fashion conversation. It is also one of our most-read reviews. Read our review.
4. Not Making Clothing, Spring 2014
- What happened: Kawakubo said she would stop making clothes and make “objects for the body” instead: huge, sculptural, often unwearable forms.
- Why it mattered: It freed her runway completely from commerce. Every show since has followed that rule, while the other lines pay the bills.
5. 18th-Century Punk, Fall 2016
- What happened: Panniers, brocade and frills inflated to absurd scale, worn with punk attitude.
- Why it mattered: It showed history could be a weapon, not just a mood board. Read our review.
How to spot Comme des Garçons: signature codes
| Signature | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Black | Layers of black in different textures, matte against shine |
| Asymmetry | Hems, collars and sleeves that don’t match |
| Unfinished edges | Raw seams, holes and fraying, on purpose |
| Padding and volume | Shapes that change the outline of the body |
| Mixed fabrics | Tartan, lace, felt, PVC and gingham in one look |
| No explanations | Kawakubo rarely explains a collection; titles are often a few words |
The Comme des Garçons family today
| Line or designer | What it is |
|---|---|
| Comme des Garçons (main line) | Kawakubo’s Paris runway, the experimental core |
| Comme des Garçons Homme Plus | Kawakubo’s menswear runway |
| Junya Watanabe | Former pattern-cutter with his own Paris line since 1992 |
| Noir Kei Ninomiya | Black, technical construction, launched 2012 |
| Comme des Garçons Play | Striped tops and the heart logo, the label’s entry point |
| Dover Street Market | Kawakubo’s stores in London, Tokyo, New York, Singapore, Beijing, LA and Paris |
Keep reading on Ayerhs
- Yohji Yamamoto Spring 1999 – her fellow Japanese revolutionary
- Why fashion belongs in museums – including the Met’s Kawakubo show
- 50 Greatest Fashion Designers of All Time
Comme des Garçons: FAQ
What is Rei Kawakubo’s most famous collection?
Spring 1997, Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body, better known as “Lumps and Bumps”.
What does Comme des Garçons mean?
“Like the boys” in French. Kawakubo has said she chose it for the sound, from a Françoise Hardy song lyric.
Is Rei Kawakubo still designing?
Yes. She still shows the main Comme des Garçons line in Paris each season; our latest review is Spring 2026.
Why is Comme des Garçons important?
Kawakubo questioned the basics of fashion: beauty, gender, the body and even what counts as clothing. Margiela, Demna and generations of designers built on her ideas.
Sources: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between; Kerry Taylor Auctions; PIASA; Ayerhs archive reviews.
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