COMME DES GARCONS

REI KAWAKUBO IS A JAPANESE FASHION DESIGNER, BORN ON 11 OCTOBER 1942 IN TOKYO. FOUNDER OF THE BRAND COMME DES GARÇONS IN THE 1970S, IT WAS IN THE 1980S THAT HER FAME DEVELOPED WORLDWIDE. ACCORDING TO REI KAWAKUBO, "CREATION TAKES THINGS FORWARD. WITHOUT ANYTHING NEW, THERE IS NO PROGRESS. CREATION EQUALS NEW." 

REI KAWAKUBO CREATED COMME DES GARÇONS, WHICH MEANS “LIKE THE BOYS” IN FRENCH, WHICH IS FAMOUS FOR ITS AVANT-GARDE AESTHETIC AND UNCONVENTIONAL SILHOUETTES. KAWAKUBO REWORKED THE BRAND INTO A THRIVING FASHION LABEL, WITH HEADQUARTERS IN TOKYO’S AOYAMA DISTRICT AND A ROBUST WORLDWIDE PRESENCE. COMME DES GARÇONS ALSO INCLUDES SEVERAL DIFFUSION LINES, LIKE PLAY, NOIR, HOMME PLUS, HOMME PLUS SPORT, SHIRT, TRICOT AND MORE. LATER IN 2004, COMME DES GARÇONS DEVELOPED A MARKET-BASED RETAIL STORE: DOVER STREET MARKET, THAT STOCKS ITS MAIN COLLECTIONS AND ITS DIFFUSION LINES, TOGETHER WITH A SPREAD OF DIFFERENT DESIGNERS AND LABELS. THE SHOP ALSO HAS ART INSTALLATIONS AND INTERIOR DESIGNS BY KAWAKUBO HERSELF, AMONG A LOT OF OTHER DESIGNERS AND ARTISTS.

JUNYA WATANABE IS A JAPANESE FASHION DESIGNER, ORIGINALLY AN APPRENTICE TO REI KAWAKUBO. BORN IN 1961 IN FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN, HE ATTENDED BUNKA FASHION COLLEGE IN TOKYO, GRADUATING IN 1984. AT THIS POINT, HE BEGAN HIS JOB AT COMME DES GARÇONS AS A PATTERNMAKER. IN 1987, HE WAS PROMOTED TO CHIEF DESIGNER OF THE TRICOT KNITWEAR LINE, THEN WENT ON TO DESIGN FOR THE COMME DES GARÇONS HOMME LINE. SINCE 1992, HE BEGAN TO WORK UNDER HIS OWN NAME "JUNYA WATANABE COMME DES GARÇONS" AS A PART OF THE COMME DES GARÇONS LINE. HE BEGAN SHOWING IN PARIS IN 1993.