Rei Kawakubo’s Offbeat Beauty

Comme des Garçons may not be your style, but its radical beauty holds a hidden message for anyone working within a creative paradigm. It was in the mid-to-late 1970s that Rei Kawakubo was starting to create ripples in fashion in Japan. A few years later, in 1982, her designs presented in Paris polarised the audience. Heading Comme des Garçons for almost four decades, her unique vision has inspired the retrospective of her work, Collecting Comme, at National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). “You could say that a large percentage of the fashion press were affronted, while others recognised Rei’s ‘radical beauty’ in [her] designs,” says Danielle Whitfield, NGV curator of fashion and textiles. “It was certainly a strong shift from the folkloric styles shown at that time.”

Her ‘lumps and bumps’ collection for SS97 saw removable padding inserted to create an entirely new silhouette for women, with a shift away from the hourglass model to one that was distorted. “Rei presented a completely different relationship between clothing and the body, questioning the notion of the traditional female beauty and form,” says Whitfield.

Alongside show-stoppers like this ‘Coat and trousers’ from the 2 Dimensions collection (Runway RTW, Fall 2012, Paris Fashion Week), are Rei’s ‘Sheik Punk’ designs, including a red PVC skirt, worn with fishnet stockings and a tuxedo-style jacket adorned with shiny PVC lapels. “You could easily say that Rei Kawakubo is one of the most visionary fashion designers of the 20th century, shaping the way we look at fashion, both then and now,” says Whitfield. “This show is really exploring how a vision can impact on so many, whether you’re a designer or simply one who appreciates new and innovative ideas.”

Photo: Chris Moore/Catwalking