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Lumps&Bumps 1997 RunwayLook11 2Piece CommeDesGarcons SheerTop & DrapedSkirtDress

About the Item

In Rei Kawakubo's iconic Spring/Summer 1997 collection "Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body", which was nicknamed Lumps & Bumps, this Comme des Garcons navy two-piece set of transparent pullover long-sleeve net blouse and convertible translucent bias-cut draping long skirt or tube dress debuted on the runway in "Look 11" (partly concealed by a discreet navy open robe) seen among the Vogue coverage. Significantly, our pair repeats the fashion show's opening white "Look 1" theme of clothing-absence/body-presence with a see-through symmetrical top revealing breasts and a feminine bias-cut draped asymmetrical skirt. Variations were modeled in navy or red. Many had net-encased organ-shaped down pillows freely inserted into net underlays by the designer to shockingly distort the silhouettes, such as with two kidney-shapes on the back or a tube across the front of the hips. This set will likewise accommodate such padding that is apparent in the Vogue photos if the buyer may own some of these pillows or wish for them to be reproduced. For the original retailed pieces, the pillows were removable, while this navy set purchased by the sole owner at former Barney's New York was not shown on the runway with any. Please note that, unlike nearly all of our photos on a backless mannequin with the exception of the one where hands are visible, when worn as a skirt this bottom garment sits higher on the torso at a more flattering angle near the waist and is a tighter stretch-fit on the hips. TheMet, whose Costume Institute made Kawakubo its second living designer to be honored with a retrospective exhibition, was only able to acquire a single runway Look from S/S 1997 that it considers among its most important 20th-Century fashion designs. In its essay, "Our New Acquisitions Of The 1990s", the museum stated about this long narrow stretched silhouette: "Rei Kawakubo invoked fashion history with her use of elegant forms of the torso accentuated by padding." Parsons School of Design Professor Francesca Granata succinctly noted when writing for MOMA about these 1997 designs: "(the) collection challenged the way the silhouette was constructed." Some subtle details of the tailoring should be pointed out. The collar and cuffs are minimally ruffled with topstitching like shirring to add touches of elegance, texture, and shadows beyond a basic T-shirt shape. Further, the skirt is an unusual Japanese-dyed nylon-blend jersey that feels like lightweight woven wool. Its bias cut and asymmetric seams create unique draping in front, which pools off-center to distort the silhouette of one thigh in an area that would never be bulged by flesh-and-bone. Although we photographed the set so that both brand tags are positioned in the back, the skirt with asymmetric waist and hem can be rolled down to change the skirt length or rotated in any direction desired to shift the draping or add a pillow. More so, the versatile skirt can be pulled up over the breasts to be worn as a tube dress--with or without the blouse. As an alternative to conceal the wearer's breasts, the fashion show debuted a long tank dress version of this style with a tulle overlay. So adding a simple tank top under the blouse would otherwise suit the designer's intended look. The brand tags remain on both garments, while the material care and date tags were removed by the sole owner, so that the only tag that can be partly seen when worn is at the back of the neck. The text "Comme des Garcons" can be read when either tag is flattened, which is like TheMet's S/S 1997 two-piece "accession 1998.516.1a, b", which was also made in Japan in Fall 1996. We noticed that another 1stDibs dealer is offering the same skirt in a two-piece set for several thousand dollars more than our price with a different top that is not the same navy color and not transparent nor long sleeve.

Designer:

Rei Kawakubo Comme Des Garcons

Brand:

Comme des Garçons

Dimensions:

Marked Size: M (JP)

Style:

1990s (Of the Period)

Place of Origin:

Japan

Period:

1990-1999

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use.

Seller Location:

Chicago, IL

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU3244220187882

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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 1973, opening her first store in Tokyo in 1975. Kawakubo has since been instrumental in pioneering many concepts now familiar in contemporary fashion. One of her 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, such as titling 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. Even though the brand has 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.