Some menswear designers defy fashion’s rules of the day and in doing so, become unforgettable. Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo is one such designer with her Comme des Garcons Homme men’s label.
With Rei Kawakubo and her Comme des Garçons brand more of an empire than just a label – she is regarded as a genius by many in the world of fashion. The often avant-garde and always influential label was created by Kawakubo in Tokyo in 1969 and it’s menswear line in 1978 where it became an instant success (and continues to be so today) before heading to Paris in 1981, where it created both a positive reaction and controversy for its debut collection of black coloured distressed and deconstructed garments. Alongside the equally famous Japanese designer, Yohji Yamamoto, she is credited with starting the trend of all black dressing which began in the 1980s. Throughout the 1980s, Comme des Garçons' clothes often had a destroyed, dishevelled look.
The modern Comme des Garçons Homme brand, which encompasses an entire family of sub-brands in fashion and fragrance, and regular collaborations with other cult labels and designers such as Converse, Fred Perry and the Japanese designer Junya Watanabe, is worn by men who take an eccentric, almost Japanese approach to personal style.
It is perhaps too difficult to try to describe the ‘typical’ Comme des Garcons menswear ‘look’, or indeed customer – but it is something you will immediately recognise once you are familiar with the label. And Comme des Garcons and Kawakubo's sub-brands such as Comme des Garcons PLAY and Comme des Garcons SHIRT, all stocked by MilanStyle.co.uk, really are worth becoming familiar with.
