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Comme des Garçons

Japanese

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.

Average Sold Price
$826
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Comme des Garcons Zippers Jacket AD 2013
By Comme des Garçons, Junya Watanabe
Located in Water Mill, NY
A fabulous black and white wool fine hounds tooth wool jacket by Junya Watanabe for Comme des Garcons, CDG. It is double breasted with long sleeves and a lapel collar. The jacket is...
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2010s Japanese Comme des Garçons

Comme des Garcons black knitted raw silk dress, ss 1984
By Comme des Garçons
Located in London, GB
Comme des Garcons; black knitted raw silk dress. L-shaped, with elongated panel forming a cowl collar, slits for the arms and diagonal hem. Can be worn ...
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1980s French Comme des Garçons

Museum Quality Comme des Garcons Lumps & Bumps SS 1997 Red Gingham Top
By Comme des Garçons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage Comme des Garcons Robe de Chambre "Lumps & Bumps" or "Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body" red and white check gingham top. Top features multiple "d...
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1990s Japanese Comme des Garçons

1999 Comme des Garçons 'Robe de Chambre' Avant Guard Body meets Dress style
By Comme des Garçons
Located in Sheffield, GB
Superb ORIGINAL 1999, Avant Guard Pinstriped dress by COMME DES GARÇONS, elegantly constructed in a Charcoal Wool cloth. MADE IN JAPAN. The Garment can be moved and contorted...
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1990s Japanese Comme des Garçons

Multicolor Comme Des Garcons Patent Patchwork Wallet
By Comme des Garçons
Located in New York, NY
Multicolor metallic patent patchwork leather zip wallet by Comme Des Garcons. Gold-tone hardware. Exterior zip closure. 4" height, 0.75" width, 4.5" length.
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21st Century and Contemporary European Comme des Garçons

Black Comme Des Garcons Leather Continental Wallet
By Comme des Garçons
Located in New York, NY
Black leather continental wallet by Comme Des Garcons. Gold-tone hardware. Multiple interior card and cash slots. Exterior zip closure. 8" height, 1" width, 4.5" length.
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21st Century and Contemporary European Comme des Garçons

Black Comme Des Garcons Leather Continental Wallet
By Comme des Garçons
Located in New York, NY
Black leather continental wallet by Comme Des Garcons. Gold-tone hardware. Multiple interior card and cash slots. Exterior zip closure. 8" height, 1" width, 4.5" length.
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21st Century and Contemporary European Comme des Garçons

White & Light Blue Tricot Comme Des Garcons Layered Dress Size US S
By Comme des Garçons
Located in New York, NY
White and light blue pinstriped layered dress by Tricot Comme Des Garcons. Bateau neckline. Short sleeves. Button closures at front. 35" bust, 32.5" waist, 47" length, 14.5" shoulder...
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21st Century and Contemporary Comme des Garçons

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Comme Des Garçons fashion for sale on 1stDibs.

Find an extraordinary range of authentic Comme des Garçons fashion available on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing our collection of unique vintage and designer fashion to elevate your daily look or to introduce new colors to the dazzling formal wear in your wardrobe, this designer’s body of work includes elements of red, purple, blue and other tones. Customers who are interested in this designer might also find the work of Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and Rei Kawakubo appealing. On 1stDibs, find haute couture, vintage and designer Comme des Garçons fashion from top boutiques around the world. Comme des Garçons fashion prices can differ depending upon time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $40 and tops out at $38,500, while the average work can sell for $918.

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