Rei Kawakubo: For and Against Fashion

273 Pages·2023·28.131 MB·English

by  Rex Butler

Rei Kawakubo
ii
Rei Kawakubo
For and Against Fashion
EDITED BY
REX BUTLER
BLOOMSBURY VISUAL ARTS
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain 2023
Selection, editorial matter, Introductions © Rex Butler, 2023
Individual chapters © their Authors, 2023
Rex Butler has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Editor of this work.
Cover design by Adriana Brioso
Cover image: Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons Cape, Blood and Roses collection,
Spring/Summer 2015 National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Gift of Takamasa Takahashi
and David Tune, 2020 © Comme des Garçons Photo by Christian Markel/NGV
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ISBN: HB: 978-1-3501-1822-5
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This book is dedicated to Peter Beiers, enthusiast extraordinaire
1964–2018
vi
Contents
List of plates ix
List of illustrations xii
Notes on contributors xviii
Introduction: For and against fashion Rex Butler 1
1 Couture clash Akiko Fukai 11
2 The empire designs back Barbara Vinken 19
3 Rei Kawakubo as a retail format pioneer Karinna Grant
and Kat Duffy 27
4 Rei Kawakubo: Agent provocateur in a hyper-glamourized
world Llewellyn Negrin 47
5 Rei Kawakubo and the luxury of freedom Ory Bartal 65
6 Rei Kawakubo: Defiance personified Yuniya Kawamura 87
7 Exploring the theoretical meaning of Rei Kawakubo: Two waves
of Japanese fashion in the West and Georg Simmel’s fashion
dualism Tets Kimura 99
8 The subversively cute side of Comme des Garçons:
Rei Kawakubo and romantic transgression
Masafumi Monden 117
9 Breaking the idea of clothes: Rei Kawakubo’s fashion
manifesto Karen de Perthuis 137
10 The complexity of Kawakubo: A radical form of
consciousness Bronwyn Clark-Coolee 157
viii CONTENTS
11 Between clothing and flesh: Kawakubo at the Met
Adam Geczy and Vicki Karaminas 177
12 Kawakubo’s solipsism: The art of the in-between at the Met
Amelia Winata 193
13 Rei Kawakubo: Fashion degree zero Rex Butler 209
Index 231
Plates
1 Dover Street Market, London View of stall selling T-shirts,
mirror on side Photo by View Pictures/Universal Images
Group via Getty Images Getty Images Editorial Number
144834056
2 Cindy Sherman. Untitled, 1994 Chromogenic colour print,
124.4 × 83.8 cm Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
© Cindy Sherman
3 Stephen Shanabrook and Veronika Georgieva. Paper Surgery,
2010 Comme des Garçons SHIRT, Spring/Summer 2010
Image courtesy of Stephen Shanabrook and Veronika
Georgieva
4 Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons MONSTER collection,
Autumn/Winter 2014–15, Paris Fashion Week, 1 March 2014
Photo by Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images Getty Images
Editorial Number 475798749
5 Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons The Future of the
Silhouette collection, Autumn/Winter 2017, Paris Fashion
Week, 4 March 2017 Photo by Jonas Gustavsson/MCV
Photo for The Washington Post via Getty Images Getty
Images Editorial Number 648498104
6 Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons Persona collection, Spring/
Summer 2018, Paris Fashion Week, 30 September 2017 Photo
by Jonas Gustavsson/MCV Photo for The Washington Post via
Getty Images Getty Images Editorial Number 856523948