It takes a certain kind of confidence for a designer to stage a collection in front of one of the most striking buildings in modern architecture, overlooking the magnificent cliffs and waterfront...
Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between
July 05, 2017 3:00 PM
“Rei Kawakubo is one of the most important and influential designers of the past 40 years,” said Andrew Bolton, Head Curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, and TWELV could not agree more. Bolton continues, “By inviting us to rethink fashion as a site of constant creation, recreation, and hybridity, she has defined the aesthetics of our time.” The museum introduced its new spring collection surrounding the iconic Japanese designer earlier in May. In case you haven't yet had a chance to see the awe-inspiring exhibit, we invite you to discover “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between” on view until September 4th.
Whose work other than that of Kawakubo could be the genesis of a reflection about the concept of absence and presence? The exhibition displays approximately 130 examples of Kawakubo’s womenswear designs for Comme des Garçons from the early 1980’s to her most recent collection. Through these designs, the exhibit examines the designer’s obsession with in-between space. This in-between space can be found in her aesthetic sensibility and her visual ambiguity, always questioning the conventional notions of beauty. “In blurring the art/fashion divide, Kawakubo asks us to think differently about clothing,” said Thomas P. Campbell, Director of The Met, who also lauded Bolton saying, “Curator Andrew Bolton explores work that often looks like sculpture in an exhibition that challenges our ideas about fashion’s role in contemporary culture.”
Since founding Comme des Garçons in 1969 and debuting her Paris collection in 1981, Rei Kawakubo has defined a new, internationally-recognized aesthetic. “I have always pursued a new way of thinking about design...by denying established values, conventions, and what is generally accepted as the norm. And the modes of expression that have always been most important to me are fusion...imbalance... unfinished... elimination...and absence of intent,” explained the designer. Her unique fusion of art and fashion has excelled her to the top of the design world, and as a result, this exhibition is the Costume Institute’s first monographic show on a living designer since the Yves Saint Laurent exhibition in 1983.
To fully understand Kawakubo’s incredible vision, the exhibition articulates around nine predominant themes of interstitiality in her collections: Absence/Presence, Design/Not Design, Fashion/Anti-Fashion, Model/Multiple, High/Low, Then/Now, Self/Other, Object/Subject, and Clothes/ Not Clothes. Embodied by magnificent heads and wigs created and styled by Julien d’Ys, Kawakubo’s clothing shows the artificiality, arbitrariness, and emptiness of conventional dichotomies– the art of the “in-between”. “My clothes and the spaces they inhabit are inseparable—they are one and the same. They convey the same vision, the same message, and the same sense of values,” said Kawakubo. Linked to the Zen Buddhism concepts of mu (無 - emptiness) and ma (間 - space), her art allows meaningful connections and transformations to create new possibilities and continue to pour delicate drops of a unique and architectural fashion into the world.
WRITTEN BY LOUISE GUILLOT
EDITED BY HOLLIS DE LANEY
PHOTO CREDIT: THE MET
related posts
3.1 PHILLIP LIM FASHION STORY "SUNDAY MORNING"
FASHION STORY “Sunday Morning” is now available!
Check inside for the Full Page Editorial.
DIOR X RIHANNA
Rihanna creates new Star Trek inspired sunglasses with Christian Dior.
TWELV MAGAZINE PARTY "BLONDE SASHIMI @HAPPY ENDING "
Find and enjoy more photos on TWELV Facebook
MARC JACOBS S/S2016 EYEWEAR COLLECTION
Eyewear is a stroke of color that accents an outfit. It’s also one of the few accessories where irregular shapes and designs and quirkiness thrive.
FASHION STORY "TUZA"
FASHION STORY “TUZA” is now available!
Check inside for the Full Page Editorial.
Citizens of Humanity's Fabric Brand Director, HIRO IKUTA
What sparks would be created between Japanese heritage and California sunshine?
COS LAUNCHES SS16 ISSUE OF COS MAGAZINE
COS, a London based brand known for its reinvented classics and modern trends, has just published the SS16 issue of their bi-annual...
FASHION STORY "CARMEN & CARMEN"
FASHION STORY “CARMEN & CARMEN” is now available!
Check inside for the Full Page Editorial.
MAVI FEATHER COLLECTION S/S2016
Mavi, who designs a full collection of denim and casual fashion founded in Istanbul in 1991, just launched “The premium ...
YOHJI YAMAMOTO FASHION STORY "TOKYO YANKI"
YOHJI YAMAMOTO FASHION STORY "TOKYO YANKI" is now available!
Check inside for the Full Page Editorial.
Yigal Azrouël NYFW F/W2016 Ready-to-Wear
Yigal Azrouël NYFW F/W 2016 Ready-to-Wear
Jill Stuart NYFW F/W2016 Ready-To-Wear
Jill Stuart F/W 2016 Ready-To-Wear
TWELV NYFW F/W 2016 PARTY @ APARTMENT 7
Find and enjoy more photos on TWELV FACEBOOK below.
Christian Siriano NYFW F/W2016 Ready-to-Wear /Backstage
Christian Siriano F/W 2016 Ready to Wear
KAREN WALKER FASHION STORY "BEHIND BLUE EYE"
KAREN WALKER FASHION STORY "BEHIND BLUE EYE" is now available!
Check inside for the Full Page Editorial.
Downtown Culture Club Fashion Season Opening Party
Find and enjoy more photos on TWELV Facebook
Louis Vuitton “SERIES 4”: The New Norm
Louis Vuitton “SERIES 4” The New Norm
DOMINIC LOUIS FASHION STORY "HEY HO LET'S GO"
DOMINIC LOUIS Fashion Story "HEY HO LET'S GO" is now available!
Check inside for the Full Page Editorial.
CITIZENS OF HUMANITY FASHION STORY "ALMOST FAMOUS"
CITIZENS of HUMANITY Fashion Story "ALMOST FAMOUS" is now available!
Check inside for the Full Page Editorial.
Apple and Hermès Unveil the Apple Watch Hermès Collection
September 9, 2015 — Apple and Hermès are creating a unique style for apple watch. Hermès has designed an amazing leather bands in distinctive styles.
BERENIK FASHION STORY "FALLING UP"
BERENIK Fashion Story "FALLING UP" is now available!
Check inside for the Full Page Editorial
Back Stage #8: Top Gun
"Behind the scenes of TWELV Magazine's inspired creations"
TWELV MAGAZINE PARTY @ TIKI TABU / SIXTY LES
Right in the middle of the an indecisive November, TWELV Magazine invited the beautiful folks of New York City to celebrate Fall in its latest party at TIKI TABU...
KAT GRAHAM EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW / FASHION STORY "KAT GRAHAM 1991"
Kat Graham Exclusive Interview / Fashion Story "KAT GRAHAM 1991" is now available!
Check inside for the Full Page Editorial
Gian Kamal Fashion Story "In The Woods"
Exclusive Gian Kamal Fashion Story "In The Woods" is now available!
Check inside for the Full Page Editorial
TWELV NYFW S/S 2016 Party @ TIKI TABU / SIXTY LES
Nothing better than a fashion party that has an amazing music and rooftop drinks to relive the hassle of fashion week.
Jill Stuart NYFW S/S2016 Ready-To-Wear
The 70’s are back with Jill Stuart Spring/Summer 2016 collection with high-waists and bell-bottoms that are to die for. The designer has traveled back in time with a range of simple suits and...
Marc Jacobs NYFW S/S2016 Ready-To-Wear
“I have always found comfort in the familiar and the frequent return to the things that move me visually, emotionally and intellectually.”
TWELV / ARC TOKYO EXCLUSIVE PARTIES IN JAPAN
ARC is a social hub of entertainment, a club, and a bar in the heart of Tokyo's fashion district Omotesando.
Yigal Azrouël NYFW S/S2016 Ready-To-Wear
“It’s about going from step to step and showing that progression.”
MARC JACOBS HOSTS "GLOSS" BOOK EVENT BY Roger Padilha and Mauricio Padilha
Amongst the fun and chaos that comes with fashion week, Marc Jacobs did a fantastic job in adding to the excitement during his party last night celebrating ...
GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI F/W2015 AD CAMPAIGN
When it comes to designing shoes, few designers are as artistic as Giuseppe Zanotti.
Bubblegum Pinky Rings by David Yurman
The Bubblegum Pinky Rings by David Yurman is a unique fine jewelry ring that has been designed by an elite crowd. A king wears his family signet ring on his pinky.
CHRISTIAN SIRIANO Fashion Story "NEVER TALK WITH STRANGERS"
Exclusive CHRISTIAN SIRIANO Fashion Story "NEVER TALK WITH STRANGERS" is now available.
Check inside for the Full Page Editorial