The Style Report

10-11-2008

STYLE REPORT

FashionCapital

By Vanessa Camelia

This week Style Report looks at style in its most extreme form. When you mention the name Rei Kawakubo and H&M you would be forgiven for thinking twice about this collaboration. But it is true, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons is about to unleash her collaborative high street "guest designer" collection form men and women around the world next Thursday, November 13th.

Rei Kawakubo is world known for her extreme use of manipulation with fabrics creating the most amazing shapes and form with the material. It will be wonderful to see women and men embrace her collection as Rei Kawakubo does not in any means conform to the standard shape, she re-invents silhouettes not seen before and this could be a new era in the way we dress.

This is a great point in retail history as we begin to see more and more avant garde designers collaborating with high street stores. Once thought of impossible for a designer of that level and stature would even consider working with a high street store and yet we are seeing this happen before our very eyes. We are able to tap into that market and buy garments at very well priced prices.

The Daily Telegraph's Hilary Alexander firmly believes that there's no exaggerating the significance of Comme – which is known for its cool intellectualism and avant garde aesthetic – partnering with a high street retailer.

"When I first heard that Rei Kawakubo was going to do a range for H&M I was completely knocked off my feet," she admits. "It's probably the best designer collaboration H&M has ever done; possibly that any commercial organisation has ever done."

Vogue.com

Comme des Garçons for H&M…

Rei Kawakubo

Rei Kawakubo was born on 10^th November 1942 in Tokyo.

She is untrained as a fashion designer, but studied fine arts and literature at Tokyo's prestigious Keio University. After graduation, Kawakubo worked in a textile company and began working as a freelance stylist in 1967.

In 1973, she established her own company, Comme des Garçons Co. Ltd in Tokyo and opened up her first boutique in Tokyo in 1975. Starting out with women's clothes, Kawakubo added a men's line in 1978. Three years later, she started presenting her fashion lines in Paris each season, opening up a boutique in Paris in 1982.

Comme des Garçons specialises in anti-fashion, austere, sometimes deconstructed garments. During the 1980s, her garments were primarily in black, dark grey or white. The materials were often draped around the body and featured frayed, unfinished edges along with holes and a general asymmetrical shape. Challenging the established notions of beauty she created an uproar at her debut Paris fashion show where journalists labeled her clothes 'Hiroshima chic' amongst other things. Since the late 1980s her colour palette has grown somewhat.

Catwalk Creations…