Comme des Garçons, Hong Kong

Rei Kawakubo, the designer of Comme des Garçons is one of the world’s most influential figures in fashion. She’s recognised in the fashion world for challenging the standards of beauty through innovative designs with deconstructed fabrics. 

Kawakubo started as a fashion stylist and started to design her own clothes when she couldn’t find the clothes she liked which lead to the launch Comme des Garçons with husband Adrian Joffe in 1973. Her earlier shows caused a sensation when clothes had a destroyed look compared to the body-conscious silhouettes of the time, back in the 1980s. Her clothes were made from distressed fabrics with exposed seams and frayed edges influenced by Japanese work wear. The success of her brand in Japan lead her to Paris in 1981.

Under Kawakubo directions, Comme des Garçons has become a groundbreaking retailer, sending collections on tours in the form of guerrilla stores in Helinski, Singapore and Ljubljana. The touring shop stopped in 2004 and since then, Kawakubo launched 2 diffusion lines; Comme des Garçons SHIRT and Comme des Garçons Play.

Comme des Garçons first Hong Kong store opened in 2009 and offers fashion and accessories for men and women from the main collection, alongside Comme des Garçons SHIRT and Comme des Garçons PLAY.