Rei Kawakubo biography. School of stylish images and ideas

Text: Irina Dubina
Cover: Dasha Chertanova

Imagine being a model editor respected fashion gloss. It takes place in 1981, and you come to the show of a little-known Japanese designer, who only a year ago settled in France, opening the brand’s first boutique in Paris, and is organizing her own fashion show for the first time. To complete the picture, it would be useful to remember what was happening in the fashion of that time, which placed conventional femininity and sexuality at the forefront: the bourgeois beauty of Yves Saint Laurent, the provocative femmes fatales performed by Thierry Mugler, the seductive dresses of the rising star Azzedine Alaïa, leaving almost no space for the imagination.

The collection, which critics scornfully dubbed “Hiroshima chic,” predictably did not attract mass approval, but changed the fashion world forever

And then yesterday’s Tokyo University student Keio Rei Kawakubo bursts into the calm, measured rhythm of Parisian fashion with the destructiveness of a tsunami. During the show, girls come out onto the catwalk in indistinct black clothes: sweaters artistically decorated with holes, as if they had been thoroughly eaten by moths, flowing skirts and voluminous shirts that hide even a hint of secondary sexual characteristics. The honorable public is shocked - what was it: things that are supposed to be worn, or an artistic statement on the theme of Japanese devastation after the Second World War? The collection, which critics scornfully dubbed “Hiroshima chic,” predictably did not attract mass approval, but changed the fashion world forever. And hardly anyone could have imagined then that Kawakubo would be destined to become one of the most influential designers for many subsequent generations.

To understand Rei Kawakubo as a designer, you first need to know her background. Her childhood and adolescence occurred in the post-war years, when Japan emerged from World War II weakened politically and financially. The seventies, just like the sixties for Great Britain, became for the country the formation of a new generation that did not experience the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at a conscious age, but lives against the backdrop of their social consequences. During the American occupation of Japan from 1945–1952, Westerners sought to instill their own values ​​in the country, in particular to give women more rights and freedoms. Thus, the new constitution of Japan, which came into force in May 1947, guaranteed women voting rights - for the first time in the country's history. This step was a prerequisite for the feminism movement that emerged in Japanese society in the 1970s - the one that would become the catalyst and driving force behind all of Kawakubo’s work.

Of course, Kawakubo was by no means the first designer to promote the ideas of feminism in fashion and try to move away from generally accepted ideas about femininity and beauty. We all remember Gabrielle Chanel, who assured that female figure does not have to have a form at all hourglass to be considered attractive, and excessive decoration is a sign of bad taste. Or about Sonia Rykiel, who, in a less radical form, proclaimed a woman’s right to dress for herself, and not to attract male attention. But it was Rei Kawakubo's voice that sounded loud enough to echo in the collections of many other designers ten, twenty and thirty years later.

Kawakubo herself said that in her youth she more than once had to face misunderstanding and disapproval from society: then, in the 1960s, in still patriarchal Japan, a woman who chose a career instead of a family was considered a narrow-minded egoist. “I never stop fighting - anger is born in me, and it becomes my source of energy.” It is important that in Kawakubo’s collections provocation was never exclusively a visual creative device: behind all the seeming oddities there was always the idea of strong woman who is not obliged to consider attractiveness in the eyes of a man as an end in itself, to be naked or to emphasize the curves of her body.

Exploring the issue of physicality (the most striking example is the spring-summer 1997 collection), Kawakubo questioned the ideals of beauty imposed by Western, particularly American, society - something that she personally had to face while living in post-occupation Japan. She used as her design tools various techniques, which somehow went against the conventional norms of French fashion of that time: deconstruction instead of clothing elements carefully sewn in the correct order, raw edges and things turned outward as a metaphor for the underside of the fashion industry, mixing masculine and feminine in collections. But behind all this there was always an image of a strong woman independent of the pressure of stereotypes, which became the leitmotif of all Kawakubo’s work and was reflected in the works of designers who admired her.

Thus, Miuccia Prada, who is called one of the main feminists of modern fashion, has repeatedly said that the founder of Comme des Garçons was a huge source of inspiration for her. The first collection she showed in 1989 was stylistically far from Kawakubo’s complex designs, but carried the same idea of ​​unconventional femininity in defiance of the established canons of the fashion industry of that time. Prada had her own prerequisites for this: an active feminist position, a doctorate in political science. But she was largely inspired by Kawakubo to create her design aesthetic, which was dubbed “ugly chic” - by the idea of ​​anti-sexuality and the leveling of the very principles of “luxury” fashion.

Another illustrative example is Alexander McQueen, for whom the Japanese designer was almost an idol in the flesh. His style, especially in more mature years, was different from both Comme des Garçons and Prada, but the values ​​he conveyed through his collections were still the same. A strong (often in the literal sense of the word - remember the finale of the fall-winter 1998/1999 show) woman, endowed with undisguised, sometimes openly aggressive sexuality, an almost mythical creature - an image far from mass ideas about beauty.

Almost all the key designers who defined the 1990s in fashion, including Helmut Lang, Martin Margiela, Gilles Sander, the Antwerp Six, in one way or another transferred the ideas laid down by Kawakubo into their collections:
someone - releasing models on the catwalk in clothes ten sizes too big,
someone - creating a minimalist uniform for career girls. And it doesn’t matter how visually their works intersected with the collections
Comme des Garçons: when we talk about the influence of a designer on the minds of her followers, we mean first of all the concept of feminism as the liberation of women from the dogma of having to look beautiful and sexy in the eyes of a man.

Many consider Kawakubo’s work to be closer to art than to fashion: most of her collections look too far from traditional concepts of clothing. The designer herself saw in them rather a material articulation of her ideas - about gender, the role and place of a woman in modern society, her right to look the way she wants, without looking at the opinion of her partner.

Many consider Kawakubo’s work to be closer to art than to fashion: most of her collections look too far from traditional concepts of clothing

If you think about it, the latest fashion three years old at least tells us the same thing: against the backdrop of the social landscapes formed by the new wave of feminism, Kawakubo’s ideas look like colorized black and white films from half a century ago. It turns out that we have already been through all this, and the foundation of modern feminist-oriented fashion was laid more than three decades ago. We're not talking about the glorified slogan T-shirts, but about women being reminded once again that you can dress as you please, and it shouldn't diminish your attractiveness or self-confidence, or in any way mischaracterize you.

Today we have a whole cohort of designers who follow the same principles that Kawakubo once conveyed to the world of Parisian fashion: Phoebe Philo, who skillfully creates the image of a modern feminist, and Nadège Vanet-Cybulski, who fits perfectly into the aesthetics of Hermès, and Christophe Lemaire , and Consuelo Costiglioni, and Chitose Abe. They cannot all be summed up under a single stylistic denominator, but in an ideological context they are all similar in one way or another.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition, "Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between," as stated in a press release, aims to analyze the dualities in Kawakubo's work: fashion/anti-fashion, design/no design, high/low, and so on. Surprisingly, this list does not mention one of the main issues of the Japanese designer’s work - women’s freedom. “Many designers cultivate the idea of ​​how they think men want women to be,” Kawakubo said in an interview. She had enough courage and talent to offer her own, different view from the traditional one and inspire others to do the same.

Kawakubo (as well as Yoji Yamamoto at the same time) showed that for a woman, clothing does not necessarily have to be a means of decorating or improving oneself, but can be a tool of self-expression or protection. Modern fashion continues this idea, adding to it the ideas of convenience, comfort as the main value - as a result, we are increasingly seeing loose-fitting things on the catwalks instead of cocoon dresses and sneakers or flat boots instead of killer heels.

And yes, no one can cancel the same Balmain and Elie Saab with their army of loyal clients, Instagram divas who chose Kylie Jenner as a role model, and women who still prefer to have two diametrically opposed wardrobes in style: “for themselves and meetings with girlfriends" and "for a man." But the beauty of the world in which we live today is precisely the absence of categorical concepts about what is right and what is wrong. And who knows, maybe if it weren’t for that 1981 show, the modern world would be a little different.

Rei Kawakubo is the founder of the famous brand Comme des Garcons, which means “like a boy.” She was born in Tokyo in 1942. She did not have the opportunity to receive an appropriate design education, so all the subtleties of this art were studied by the future fashion designer on her own. Rey could easily convey her ideas to designers and seamstresses. The latter could, according to her words, easily create models and implement their plans.

A little later, Rei Kawakubo was able to take sewing courses. After graduating, she worked in a textile company. Rey also tried herself as a stylist. However, in 1969 she created her own clothing brand - Comme des Garcons, which corresponded to the title of one of her favorite songs. Comme des Garcons Co. Ltd., which was founded in 1973, specialized in the production women's clothing. But already in 1978, a men's line was also launched.

Moving to Paris opened up the opportunity for Rey to annually demonstrate her collections in the fashion capital itself.

Features of Rei Kawakubo's style

While most designers work with models according to the standards accepted in the fashion world, Rey gets rid of symmetry. She uses crinkled fabric in dark, inky black shades. By leaving unfinished seams, crumpling various parts and mercilessly shredding fabric, Kawakubo hides what other fashion designers are trying to emphasize - features and beauty. female body. Her line of women's clothing is unpredictable, contradictory, and goes against generally accepted concepts of style. Her collections are distinguished by their own special style. A clear love of deconstruction leads to the lack of sleeves and inverted pockets - you will find this and much more in her collections.

Not every fashionista will like clothes from Rei Kawakubo. However, lovers of experiments will be able to discover a lot of new things with her outfits. Perhaps Rei's clothing will help you better express your inner self. Remember that the emphasis in clothing should be on one, maximum two details. As for colors, Rei Kawakubo's clothes cross out all ideas about their compatibility. Be bold.

On Lyubov Mikhailovna’s recommendation to compare the works of Yoji Yamomota with the works of other designers, I started with a selection of photographs. Starting my comparative analysis, I realized that it was impossible to do without a thorough study of the biography of each of them. So, I'll start with Rei Kawakubo, the founder of Comme des Garcons.

When getting acquainted with Rei’s biography, I noticed that wherever this talented Japanese woman was mentioned, the dates of the events in her life are inseparable from her work in the company. I am posting the most, in my opinion, informational rich article about Rei Kawakubo's life at Comme des Garcons. I especially liked the introduction, which clearly shows how to get acquainted with the work of designers.

When studying the creative path of each of my favorite designers, I usually start for myself with biographies, dates, awards, interviews. Often it is necessary to translate material into Russian and adapt it. More often, you find well-known facts about designers, for example, what year they debuted, when they first opened their own boutique, or what served as a source of inspiration for latest collection. All this is quite interesting, for example, I noticed that 90 percent of my favorite designers do not have a professional diploma at all, which, of course, did not prevent them from becoming the best in their field. However, bare facts, of course, are not enough to understand fashionable “artists”; I always need to read a huge number of interviews, get to know their favorite writers or musicians, favorite films and paintings. This is the only way, in my opinion, to understand why a designer creates, what thoughts and ideas guide him, what meaning he puts into his work and what legacy he wants to leave behind. Only in this way can you feel a talented person, feel the strength of his personality and trace the dynamics of how it happened that he created new story fashion.

Thus, in the 80s, Europe was conquered by Japanese philosophy and Japanese fashion designers Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto, and in the 90s they continued to shock the public with shifted proportions, distorted silhouettes, combinations of straight lines and asymmetry.
Today, I will tell you what I know about Rei Kawakubo, the creator of the Comme des Garcons brand.
Rei Kawakubo was born in Tokyo in 1942.
She graduated from the prestigious Keio University, where she studied Eastern and Western aesthetics. Then she got a job in the advertising department of the Asahi Kasei company, which invented synthetic fabrics, and since 1967 she worked as a stylist.
Art history education and proximity to textile technologies apparently entered into a complex alchemical reaction, and Kawakubo began to invent her first women's dresses.
In 1969 Rey founded the Comme des Garcons brand: the designer, by her own admission, “didn’t put anything special into the Francophone name “Like Boys.”
Not knowing how to sew, she literally explained to the tailors what she wanted to see. It turned out that she wanted things that were extravagant, but definitely successful.
While other designers drape models in the old fashioned way, Kawakubo works with silhouettes like a poet with the habits of a vivisector - twisting, shredding, leaving unfinished seams, tearing off sleeves and turning pockets over. "I hate symmetry."
It is worth hearing in this confession not so much a love of deconstruction as a manifesto unusual attitude towards beauty: life begins where there is a deviation from dead correctness.
By the way, it is precisely in this spirit that young Belgian avant-garde artists who made a name for themselves in the mid-80s understand beauty: Ann Demeulemeester and Martin Margiela openly talk about how they were touched by the fashion shows of Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto.
Since 1981, Rey has been a regular participant in Paris Fashion Week.
As a result, in 1982 "Comme des Garcons" became a member of the Parisian syndicate high fashion(Paris Syndicate of High Fashion and Ready-Made Clothes). Models from the collections created by Rey began to be exhibited at specialized exhibitions around the world.
In 1983, Rei received the Mainichi Newspaper Award from the Mainichi newspaper.
In 1987, the Journal de Textile recognized Rei Kawakubo as the best designer.
After 4 years, she receives the title of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
In 1997, Rei Kawakubo received an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London.
Since 1992, a young Japanese designer, Rei Kawakubo's protégé, Juniya Watanabe, began producing his models under the Comme des Garcons brand.
Today Fashion house, in addition to the main collection, produces two more special lines Junya Watanabe Comme des Garcons and TAO Comme des Garcons, which are worked on by Junya Watanabe and Tao Kurihara, respectively, who continue to develop the brand philosophy in their own design way.

Junia devoted more than thirty years to the brand, ten of which he worked as a designer, and seven as a designer for the Comme des Garcons Tricot line. In the mid-nineties, he began working on his own collection, in which, of course, the signature style of the Kawakubo brand could be traced, but certain features also appeared - pronounced colors and layering. Junia is often called a techno-couturier for his style of creating complex designs and outrageous ingenuity. He may show clothes that resemble shapeless coffee bags or faded pajamas, but it looks so stylish that there is no doubt about the assessment of his work.
Tao Kurihara appeared at Comme des Garcons at the beginning of the third millennium and, they say, made an internal revolution in the company. It was she who brought the mood of femininity to the style of the brand. Before her appearance in the Fashion House, it was impossible to imagine a corset or the finest lace from Comme des Garcons. Now her signature line includes not only this, but also doll pom-poms, crocheted details, and flirty lingerie sets.
This year, not only her new perfume Odeur 53 by Comme des Garcons was criticized - main feature the aroma became completely lacking in structure, it was impossible to distinguish the initial, middle and final notes, the aroma was created on the basis of 53 odors of inorganic materials such as: desert sand, fire, rubber, oxygen, burnt rubber.
In 1997, for example, in her “humpbacked collection,” she questioned the very basis - the shape of the female body.
Quasimodo-like models strut down the catwalk. Sewn into overlays, they deform silhouettes with humps, swollen shoulders, and asymmetrical hips. For such demarches, people like to call Kawakubo a feminist, which the artist again denies: such movements have never interested me. Creativity is the sword with which I fight the battles I choose.

Kawakubo, who received an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London in 1997, is close to art circles and works graphic design, designs interiors, her works are exhibited in leading museums around the world. At the same time, she does not like giving interviews, despises gossip columns and believes that a designer should not be a celebrity.

If you imagine the fashion industry as a directional, colorless flow, then many famous designers will be those who modified this flow: someone expanded it, someone caused sharp “bends” that directed the movement in a new direction. However, Rei Kawakubo will forever remain in the annals fashion history the one who gave this stream color. And it’s not about the palette of her collections - it is in this regard that Rey predominantly prefers minimalism, monochromatic, black and white combinations. The point is: in a world that did not know what color was, she became the first fashion philosopher who was able to “imagine” this concept and translate it into clothes. Kawakubo discovered a completely new, previously unknown fashion dimension, which impressionable fashion critics called in every possible way - “anti-fashion”, “romance of Hiroshima”. One thing is undeniable: this woman sees something indistinguishable to other mortals, and at 73 she continues to discover not only something new - other in fashion, which is not least expressed in her ability to discern promising young talents with her “third eye.”

Kawakubo never planned to become a designer, did not study the latest issues of Vogue under the covers with a flashlight at night, and did not dream of Chanel’s success. She first entered the fashion field from a purely practical side, getting a job at a textile factory - this would later seriously affect her signature style, which is characterized by the use of new materials, modified fabrics, and a love of environmental friendliness. After that, she worked as a freelance stylist for some time, and then founded Comme Des Garçons. In short, everything that followed was a success - popularity in Japan, Parisian shows, international fame and influence, launch of men's and perfume lines, hundreds of followers, among the most famous - Ann Demeulemeester, Martin Margiela, Helmut Lang, discovery of Juni's talents Watanabe and Tao Kurihara. On this moment The company's annual turnover is about $250 million, clothing is presented in 230 boutiques around the world, the brand's three headquarters are located in Paris, New York and Tokyo, and the Comme Des Garçons “family” includes 17 more young brands. The revolution that Kawakubo's clothes brought about was quiet and bloodless, and also extremely successful financially, which is almost an isolated case for a brand with such a complex and challenging philosophy. However, Rey denies both the “intellectuality” of her clothes and its complexity: “I don’t call my approach thoughtful and special; it is personally mine and it is simple, and I create images that seem beautiful and strong to me. It's not my fault that most people see the world differently. What they say about Comme Des Garçons is just the reflections of critics after the fact, attempts to find a “base” that is not there when looking at the finished result of my work.”

Kawakubo manages to combine her design talent with the savvy of a successful retailer: she was the first to hire contemporary artists to decorate her boutiques, the first to come up with pop-up stores, and the first to launch Dover Street Markets - fashionable department store-galleries, in the windows of which every aspiring designer and famous brand dreams of being in the windows. . Last year, for example, these exhibition spaces were given to Gucci, and such a “blessing” from Rey meant to Alessandro Michele, perhaps, more than a dozen laudatory reviews.

“I could never find clothes that I wanted to wear myself. And I never liked listening to others” - these two sentences probably contain the secret of Kawakubo’s success. In the 70s - a time of female emancipation and sexual liberation - Rei began to provoke social stereotypes and norms, denying gender differences, exposing models without trying to make them seductive, proclaiming comfort as both the main goal and the main obstacle for her designs (Kawakubo believes , that it is precisely “uncomfortable” outfits that force the owner to consciously wear them, to find strength and inspiration where for others there are only branded rags).

Season after season, Kawakubo creates collections that surprise and make you think - “The Ceremony of Separation”, “The Destruction of Tailoring” - the names alone suggest a considerable amount of mental work put into creating clothes. Ray says that any clothing line for her is suffering and search, and no idea can be used twice. So far she has managed not to repeat herself, but last years the designer is even gradually moving away from his beloved black color. “I love black, but it has become too pop, too familiar, like jeans. I want to find the “new black,” the “black of the future.”

It is difficult to say how exactly this search will end, but it is indisputable that Rey will search until her last days - in this she is helped by her amazing flair, talent and flexibility of thought, which allows her to remain among the leading designers of our time in her eighties. Everyone who came into the fashion industry after Kawakubo owes her a piece of their inspiration; they took from her collections, if not literal forms and motifs, then that very “color” - the right to take risks, to reject all previously existing tendencies and trends, the right present your own vision only. “I don’t like the word feminist,” says Rae. – I don’t like the word “ambitious”. I like the word 'anti-institution'." She likes everything that goes against the norm, but there is nothing about punk or other rebellious movements. Her rebellion is calm, restrained and prefers gray and black colors. Confront the world with dignity, being a small, fragile Japanese girl with a black bob on her head? Yes, that’s the way - and that’s the only way fashion revolutions happen. Unfortunately, neither the tanned Donatella nor the confident businesswoman Diana are capable of them. Perhaps, in some ways, Phoebe Philo has come closer to Rey - they, by the way, have many similarities in character, dislike of publicity, and design direction. Who will replace Kawakubo, who will give the fashionable “flow” another, previously unknown facet? We'll see. However, another unconditional merit of Rei is that she tirelessly prepares her replacement, and through her efforts fashion world will not be left without the prophets of the Japanese school.

Rei Kawakubo, founder of Comme des Garcons, was born in Tokyo in 1942. She was not trained as a fashion designer, but studied fine arts and literature, so she can easily communicate her ideas to designers and seamstresses. After graduation, Kawakubo worked at a textile company and tried her hand as a stylist. In 1969, she came up with her own brand, calling it words from a song - Comme des Garcons (like a boy).

In 1973, Comme des Garcons Co. was founded in Tokyo. Ltd. Having started work with the creation of women's collections, in 1978 Kawakubo launched a men's line. Two years later, she moved to Paris and has since shown her seasonal collections here every year. In 1982, Comme des Garcons was accepted as a member of the Paris Pret-a-Porter Syndicate. At the same time, the first personalized boutique was opened in Paris. After a successful "invasion" in the fashion capital, Comme des Garcons clothing is often the subject of exhibitions around the world.

Since 1992, a young Japanese designer, Rei Kawakubo's protégé, Juniya Watanabe, began producing his models under the Comme des Garcons brand.

Comme des Garcons specializes in so-called anti-fashion, strict and sometimes deconstructive designs that sometimes lack sleeves or other components. These clothes, predominantly black, dark gray and white, are often displayed with combat boots.

Although Comme des Garcons' recognition around the world has increased since Kawakubo left Japan, exports account for only 10 of the brand's sales. A quarter of the stores selling Comme des Garcons products are located outside Japan and only carry a small portion of the brand's lines. Homme, Homme Deux, Tricot and Robe de Chambre are lines that are created mainly for the Japanese market. It is said that Comme des Garcons clothing is more popular than Yamamoto and Issey Miyake combined. Rei Kawakubo is still the first person and owner of Comme des Garcons Ltd. She dictates all the artistic and business policies of her company. After successfully conquering the market outside Japan, the production of Comme des Garcons clothing began to develop outside the “land of the rising sun” - mainly in France. Kawakubo has long resisted attempts to license Comme des Garcons products. Only one Italian company, Pallucco, has the right to produce fittings under this name.

Comme des Garcons lines:

Comme des Garcons - sold at Le Form

Comme des Garcons Homme (1978)

Tricot Comme des Garcons (1981)

Robe de Chambre Comme des Garcons (1981)

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