A FASHION MEMOIR Comme des Garcons is a Japanese fashion label founded by Rei Kawakubo in 1973.
On page 7, France talks about how 'Rei Kawakubos passion for photography and graphics emerged the magazine "SIX", an occasional publication in which Comme des Garcons offers an "imaginary audience a barometer of current fashion, it contains no text, just pictures." I think the way in which Comme des Garcons capitalized on both fashion and photography really changed the game on not only merging the two, but reinventing the idea of the two as a more contemporary art directed collection. The starkness of captions and descriptions of the garments, reduced clothing being shown for its generic identity, requiring for further analysis of a photo or garment. France Grande states "This constant connection between fashion and photography - evident in everything from the forms, the patterns and colours to the talent, and passion, at work - exposes a profound link. Are not fashion and Photography the only true crafts we have left?" |
ANALYZING THE WORK OF
REI KAWAKUBO
I found myself drifting towards to style of Rei kawakubo almost instantly when beginning research for my project, i had actually been familiar with her brand Comme des Garcons for years now but had never really looked beyond the brand and into the person who presented it to the world. After reading the fashion memoir by France Grande i was captivated by the highly detailed, surrealist way in which Rei not only makes the clothes, but captures them through photography, i'm specifically interested in the earlier publications of her self made "Six". The work through out the series was a lot more grittier and conceptual than the way the majority of people would recognise the brand today which i think is why it resonated a lot with me. Black and white was heavily influenced across the variety of shoots resulting in quite a fanciful collection, the use of black and white is intriguing to me as when working with fashion, the clothes tend to be bold, they're loud with colour and pattern, so Rei's choice to shoot black and white is an interesting one to take note of when approaching my own work. I'd consider alot of my work to be conceptual due to instinctive nature of the shoots so in a way i'm reminded of myself when i look at Rei's work and i'm reminded of the extremes you can go to through presenting ideas with fashion and photography. Going forward i think the work of Kawakubo will definitely stay at the fore front of my mind when creatively approaching my shoots and the planning surrounding ideas i may have.
Rei Kawakubo - By Terry Jones
Ms Kawakubo is the commander and wild one of Comme des Garcons, the iconic Japanese fashion brand, renowned for it's unconventional and forward thinking approach to dressing. Nothing passes without notice from Rei's hawk eyed vision, "her energy is contained within her teen-sized ninja frame like the energy of an atomic golf ball that has the power to go past the horizon" says Terry Jones. Comme des Garcons shows are renowned for their post-punk energy mixed with a very Japanese aesthetic, resulting in a theatrical experience that lodges in your brain forever. Sexuality and sensuality are revisited and reinvented, while life, birth, marriage, and death pay a recurrent role, adding texture and story telling to the work of Rei.
"I DON'T HAVE A DEFINITION OF BEAUTY" Rei Kawakubo.
"I DON'T HAVE A DEFINITION OF BEAUTY" Rei Kawakubo.