COMME DES GARCONS Vintage 1980's blue crinkled asymmetric waterfall draped skirt
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Period:
- Condition:Minor pilling that contributes to the overall relaxed crinkled look. Stretched waistband.
- Seller Location:Hong Kong, HK
- Reference Number:
Comme des Garçons
Comme des Garçons is one of the world’s most innovative and trailblazing fashion brands, helmed by its inimitable founder, Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo (b. 1942), who has a penchant for breaking fashion and cultural norms. The only living designer apart from Yves Saint Laurent to have a retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, Kawakubo has permanently changed fashion with designs that challenge traditional ideas of beauty with a creative and transgressive exuberance.
After studying art and literature at Keio University in Tokyo, Kawakubo worked as a freelance stylist before establishing her own label in 1969. Comme des Garçons — which is also known as CDG — officially launched in 1973, and Kawakubo opened her first store in Tokyo three years later. She has since been instrumental in pioneering many concepts now familiar in contemporary fashion.
One of Kawakubo's most iconic moves was her introduction of androgynous styles (Comme des Garçons means “like the boys” in French) with asymmetrical, twisted silhouettes that envelope the body. While she told the New York Times that the “basics of clothing lie in men’s fashion,” Kawakubo believes in the concept of humanness in clothes (she titled her spring 1995 show “Transcending Gender”).
In the 1970s, when color-blocking was the norm, Kawakubo stuck to her monochromatic color palette dominated by shades of black with uncompromising dedication, although with evocative and powerful use of red and white.
Comme des Garçons is also known for an often shocking take on fashion. Deconstructed tailoring, violently slashed fabric and sculptural shapes are some themes that run through the brand’s collections, but Kawakubo never explains the meaning of her conceptual pieces, which fall somewhere between art and fashion.
Designer Junya Watanabe, who worked alongside Kawakubo for nearly a decade, operates an atelier based within the Tokyo headquarters of Comme des Garçons, and he established a line under Kawakubo's label in the early 1990s. Since then, even though the brand has launched additional lines and more commercial offshoots like PLAY, known by the iconic heart motif with eyes, the premier men’s line Homme Plus and the multilabel Dover Street Market that opened in 2004, the essence of Comme des Garçons remains Kawakubo’s otherworldly and undefinable creations, which are impossible to ignore.
Find vintage Comme des Garçons shirts, jackets, day dresses and other clothing on 1stDibs.
Rei Kawakubo
Comme des Garçons is one of the world’s most innovative and trailblazing fashion brands, helmed by its inimitable founder, Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo (b. 1942), who has a penchant for breaking fashion and cultural norms.
Perhaps no designer better embodies fashion cool than Kawakubo. And when she makes industry veterans lose their cool, well, that’s a fashion moment. The only living designer apart from Yves Saint Laurent to have a retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, Kawakubo has permanently changed fashion — her designs for widely loved vintage Comme des Garçons dresses, shirts and other clothing and accessories challenge traditional ideas of beauty with a creative and transgressive exuberance.
After studying art and literature at Keio University in Tokyo, Kawakubo worked as a freelance stylist before establishing her own label in 1969. Comme des Garçons — which is also known as CDG — officially launched in 1973, and Kawakubo opened her first store in Tokyo three years later. She has since been instrumental in pioneering many concepts now familiar in contemporary fashion.
One of Kawakubo’s most iconic moves was her introduction of androgynous styles (Comme des Garçons means “like the boys” in French) with asymmetrical, twisted silhouettes that envelope the body. While she told the New York Times that the “basics of clothing lie in men’s fashion,” Kawakubo believes in the concept of humanness in clothes (she titled her spring 1995 show “Transcending Gender”). In the 1970s, when color-blocking was the norm, Kawakubo stuck to her monochromatic color palette dominated by shades of black with uncompromising dedication, although with evocative and powerful use of red and white.
Comme des Garçons is also known for an often shocking take on fashion. Deconstructed tailoring, violently slashed fabric and sculptural shapes are some themes that run through the brand’s collections, but Kawakubo never explains the meaning of her conceptual pieces, which fall somewhere between art and fashion. For Kawakubo, the body is a mere support, an easel that holds the canvas on which she exercises her formidable creative energy in a perpetual quest to invent a brave new world using fabric, or its equivalent, as her brushstroke. Today's enthusiasts of 1990s fashion revere Kawakubo for her progressive pink plaid grunge dresses, velvet jackets and nylon skirts of the era, which resembled little else back then. They were modeled by the likes of Naomi Campbell and other luminaries of the industry.
Even though the brand has over the years worked with other innovative designers such as Tao Kurihara and Junya Watanabe and has launched more commercial offshoots like PLAY, known by the iconic heart motif with eyes, the premier men’s line Homme Plus and the multilabel Dover Street Market that opened in 2004, the essence of Comme des Garçons remains Kawakubo’s otherworldly and undefinable creations, which are impossible to ignore.
Find vintage Rei Kawakubo shirts, jackets, day dresses and other clothing on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Sha Tin, Hong Kong
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- ALEXANDER MCQUEEN cobalt taffeta asymmetric high low structured skirt IT38 XSBy Alexander McQueen, Sarah BurtonLocated in Hong Kong, NTALEXANDER MCQUEEN cobalt taffeta asymmetric high low structured skirt IT38 XS Reference: AAWC/A00394 Brand: Alexander McQueen Designer: Sarah Burton M...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian A-Line Skirts
- runway VALENTINO 2018 green white colorblocked lace trimmed pleated skirt XS 24"By ValentinoLocated in Hong Kong, NTrunway VALENTINO 2018 green white colorblocked lace trimmed pleated skirt XS 24" Reference: LNKO/A01335 Brand: Valentino Designer: Pierpaolo Piccioli...Category
Early 2000s Italian A-Line Skirts
- FENDI 2023 Runway Baguette blue satin FF buckle cargo pocket skirt IT38 XSBy FendiLocated in Hong Kong, NTFENDI 2023 Runway Baguette blue satin FF buckle cargo pocket skirt IT38 XS Reference: TGAS/D00796 Brand: Fendi Designer: Kim Jones Collection: AW 2023 - Run...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian A-Line Skirts
- ALICE OLIVIA blue bling sequins side zip disco party pencil skirt US0 XSBy Alice + OliviaLocated in Hong Kong, NTALICE OLIVIA blue bling sequins side zip disco party pencil skirt US0 XS Reference: AAWC/A00319 Brand: Alice Olivia Material: Polyester, Blend Color: Blue Pattern: Solid Closure: Zip...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese A-Line Skirts
- SACAI NIKE navy blue nylon wool kick flared back skirt SLocated in Hong Kong, NTSACAI NIKE navy blue nylon wool kick flared back skirt S Reference: ANWU/A00455 Brand: Nike Designer: Chitose Abe Collection: Sacai collaboration Mater...Category
2010s A-Line Skirts
- new ACNE STUDIOS 2016 Kent Linen blue striped wool slit front midi skirt FR34 XSLocated in Hong Kong, NTnew ACNE STUDIOS 2016 Kent Linen blue striped wool slit front midi skirt FR34 XS Reference: NKLL/A00042 Brand: Acne Studios Model: Kent Linen Collection: SS 2016 Material: Linen, Woo...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian A-Line Skirts
- A Pierre Cardin Skirt in Printed Silk Crepe Circa 1980By Pierre CardinLocated in Toulon, FRCirca 1975/1980 France Long skirt by Pierre Cardin Paris Circa 1980. Silk crepe printed in tones of green and blue colors with patterns of geometric lines and circles of Modernist taste. Large waist belt and large box pleats at the front giving the sweep to the skirt which attaches behind with zip and hooks. Lining of the skirt in light green nylon. Woven label indicating Creation Pierre Cardin...Category
1970s French Flare Skirts
- 1960s French Made Teal Blue Gray Ivory Color Block Fringe Vintage Maxi SkirtLocated in San Diego, CASpectacular 60s OHRBACH'S turquoise blue, ivory, heather and grey angora mohair blend striped colorblocked maxi skirt! Features a black velvet stretch waistband. Black wool fringe at...Category
1960s French Flare Skirts
- Ralph Lauren Silk A-Line SkirtBy Ralph LaurenLocated in London, GBRalph Lauren Silk A-Line Skirt Blue/grey knee length skirt designed in handkerchief, double layered style. Detailed with low rise and concealed zip...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Flare Skirts
- Gucci Denim Cotton Embroidered SkirtBy GucciLocated in London, GBGucci Denim Cotton Embroidered Skirt Blue mini skirt detailed with bleach-dyed effect and yellow floral embroidery to the sides. Featuring belt loops...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Skirts
- Peacock wide silk skirtLocated in Milano, ITWide silk skirt with embroidered beading inserts. Size IT: 42 Size USA: 8 MEASURES: Waist: 74 cm Length: 85 cmCategory
Early 2000s American Skirts
- 1990s A-Poc Issey Miyake Dai Fujiwara Blue Green Purple Cotton Inside Out SkirtBy Issey MiyakeLocated in Portland, ORThis is an early piece from Issey Miyake's A-poc collection. APOC is an acronym for "A Piece of Cloth," a line introduced by Miyake in collaboration with Dai Fujiwara in 1998. The ...Category
1990s Japanese Skirts