Fashion is somehow a warm blanket and sleep under the warm blanket. The consumers purchase safe clothes which adhere to known seasonal patterns. Designers replicate formulas that have been successful in earlier collections. Then Rei Kawakubo, of Tokyo, came with a sharp pin. In 1969, with no formal training in design, she started Comme des Garcons. Satisfying the critics or pursuing traditional beauty was never the objective of her mission. She had a wish to ask why clothing has to fit in a particular manner. This Japanese brand was the alarm clock fashion so desperately needed.
A Name That embodies a Spirit of Playful Defiance
The name of the brand translates to the French language to mean like boys. This name was selected by Kawakubo because of the ironic and rebellious undertones of the name. She was inspired by a song by Francoise Hardy about teenage desire. The decision was an indicator of her unwillingness to conform to gendered expectations immediately. The designer has constructed her home on the pillars of intellectual interests. She did not consider fabric as a second skin but as a sculptural material. This mindset preconditioned two decades of imaginative mayhem.
Chrome Hearts Blazes a similar course of American Rebellion
In Tokyo, shape was questioned, and in Los Angeles, polish was questioned with Chrome Hearts. It was in nineteen eighty-eight that this brand was founded by Richard Stark as a pure motorcycle accessory brand. The label today continues to produce heavyweight silver jewelry, and leather goods by hand. Chrome Hearts will embrace gothic crosses, dagger motifs and loud rock iconography. In contrast to the intellectualistic attitude of Kawakubo, this house glorifies unashamed luxury and bravado. Chrome Hearts keeps fashion on its feet by pure material extravagance and style. Both brands renounce the mainstream yet come to the realization of rebellion through the same differing roads altogether.
Shocked Paris In Black Shapes and Destroyed Silks
Comme des Garcons premiered in Paris in the cool autumn of the year 1981. The reaction of French critics to the time can be described as horror and fascination. They referred to the deconstructed looks of Kawakubo with crude intentions with what they called Hiroshima chic. Heavy black fabrics and unfinished seams were all over the collection. Clothing was adorned with additional sleeves or unusual bumps that were in strange locations. But these provocative designs roused a slumbering European fashion capital. The industry had not witnessed such calculated crudities on a runway before.
The Anti-Perfume and Unexpected Scents Expanded Reach
Comme des Garcons made the splash into the fragrance market in a rebellious manner in 1994. The house was not willing to make an easy floral or woody smell to the customers. They instead released Odeur 53 containing fifty-three non-conventional ingredients inside. This was an anti-perfume that combined metal, rubber and mineral dust notes. The brand also issued synthetic tar and burnt rubber accords to incurious noses. Both bottles opposed the notion that fragrance should, traditionally, smell good. This olfactory uprising was a revelation that even smell could rebel against commercial sleep.
Dover Street Market Turned Shopping into a Show
In two thousand four, the brand opened the first Dover Street Market in London. Their design of the space was as a developing art exhibit to the visitors. The concrete walls that are raw are mixed with luxury labels and vintage finds at flea markets. The store alters its design altogether twice a year. This anarchy produces a beautiful mess that the customers adore to gaze at. The idea makes traditional luxury retail not too predictable and dull. This retail shock was able to keep the industry from falling asleep once again.
The Weird was taken to the Masses by Strategic Collaborations
The brand learned how to make the seemingly unlikely collaborator without selling its soul. Another streetwear brand collaborated with Comme des Garcons on several occasions to hype. The other three-way project involved a big sneaker company in order to make a special shoe. These partnerships exposed the younger audiences across the globe to the bizarre shapes introduced by Kawakubo. The Play line was characterized by a plain red heart with two cartoon eyes. This sub-label served as a cordial face of a very complicated philosophy. It very subtly enticed new admirers into the weird world of the brand.
The Heritage of Rei Kawakubo is an Everlasting State of Doubt
Kawakubo has never explained her work in a straightforward manner for the press. She is known to say that she designs where she is not aware of anything. This indecisiveness of settling makes her company seem eternally young and troubled. The label is still nurturing young talents who will later start their own lines. These designers continue the tradition of violating all the rules they can. Comme des Garcons is an example of how fashion still remains art and not business. The absence of this brand in the world would most definitely revert us to sleep once more at night.
