• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.787-803
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to reestablish the innovative and experimental designs of Rei Kawakubo by considering and analyzing the flow on the avant-garde nature of her design collection from 1981 to 2017. Design trends such as the art trend, silhouette, color, and expressive technique showcased in Rei Kawakubo's collection from 1981 spring/summer to 2017 spring/summer were examined through precedent studies, books, internet materials, and the avant-garde expressive nature of her designs appearing in modern fashion. Additionally, this study considers the definition of avant- garde and analyzes the expressive nature of Rei Kawakubo's 137 works from the Comme des Garcons collection, exhibited in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a result of this examination, the avant-garde expressive nature seen in modern fashion was classified into the following themes: historicity, de-structure, exaggeration, intermixture, and surrealism. As a result of reclassifying these characteristics according to historical flow, the historicty, intermixture, and de-structure appeared in the 1980s, while intermixture, exaggeration, and de-structure appeared in the 1990s. More recently, historicity, intermixture, and de-structure appeared in the 2000s, and intermixture, de-structure, exaggeration, and surrealism appeared in the 2010s. The present study is significant in providing theoretical material for the more innovative and various design development in diverse domains while helping to define and understand the avant-garde expression through Rei Kawakubo's collection.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.45-53
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• 2003

Rei Kawakubo is known for her provocative aesthetics: she often deliberately seeks beauty in what is seen by convention as taboo. With her highly informed and invariably provocative aesthetic, Rei Kawakubo has advanced historical forms of dress using radical functional and structural transpositions. She is considered as a pioneer showing firmly important elements of modern fashion design in her works by fashion journalists. In this paper, I'd like to analysis features of modern fashion design through Rei Kawakubo's works. I will analysis important elements of Rei Kawakuvo's design and devote study of the connection between the feature of her design and the feature of modern fashion design.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.113-131
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• 2014

This study aims to examine the background to the rise of Rei Kawakubo, a Japanese designer who achieved fame by suggesting the concept of deconstruction and recombination of clothes, and to look at environment of the time, the formative characteristics of her design and the Japanese aesthetic sense inherent in her design. As the method of research, collections that Kawakubo unveiled over the past 10 years starting in 2004 were examined, and a survey of the literature was conducted to describe the background of her growth and the Japanese aesthetic sense inherent in the design. According to the study, Kawakubo grew up in the ruins of a war, and went through a time of great tumult, when Western culture was mixing with Japan's traditional culture. She taught herself a method of creation involving the deconstruction of clothes, and their recombination. For this reason, her design from the beginning was inevitably focused on deconstructing clothes before they could be recombined. Through analyses of her collections, it was found that the formative characteristics of her design were characterized by asymmetry, incompleteness, humor and hybridity. Kawakubo created clothes under the influence of an ethnicity that was shrouded in individuality and a traditional aesthetic sense, and the formative characteristics of her design defined by asymmetry, incompleteness, humor and hybridity were closely related to the hybridity represented by Wabi (わび), Yugen (幽玄), Okashi (をかし) and Zakyo (雜居).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.1184-1195
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• 1997

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the zen aesthetic tendencies of Japanese contemporary costume, especially designs of Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake. Zen is one of the Buddism, which is originated in India, and is the religion and philosophy for salvation. There are many resemblances between Zen and postmodernism. Zen has influenced on the 'non-ornamental' culture in japan, and attaches importance to poverty, moderation as the essentials of the son aesthetics, as it were WabiSabi aesthetics is connected with the art of Tea. In this paper, it was classified zen aesthetics with the beauty of non-dualism, the beauty of poverty, the beauty of purity, the beauty of emptiness and the beauty of deepness, and then applied aesthetic categoties to the costume designs of the Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.139-148
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• 2010

As a designer, Rei Kawakubo had become one of the most influential woman of the 20th century. Comme des Garçons, which means "like boys"-what women in the early 1980s were least supposed to be-expressed criticism of the prevailing social construct of women and, importantly, of the very concept of fashion. The press had a field day with the so-called post Hiroshima look, with its aesthetic of destruction, poverty, and hunger and with its depressing mood engendered by the use of the color black. This research divided the change of design transition on Kawakubo's fashion by the three categories. The first category was experimental pattern, the second category was esthetics of omission and the third category was innovation of body consciousness. The costume messages through these design works of Kawakubo could summarize 5 items, punk sprit, beyond sex, reality, proposal of new body consciousness and representation of black.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.62 no.7
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• pp.79-96
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• 2012

Creativity is a rising topic in the current society. The emphasis on creativity is valued as a key factor for success in all areas including but not limited to politics, economy, culture, arts and design. The field of Fashion design is probably one of the few areas that talk about creativity as a necessary quality to survive. The purpose of this study is to introduce TRIZ(Teoriya Reshniya Izobretatelsskikh Sadatch) as a theoretical tool to generate creativity in fashion design. TRIZ is a creative method of problem solving based on data analysis of outcomes invented by engineering. The fundamental concept of TRIZ has been researched through documentary studies, and practical case studies of product designs are used. Fashion design cases from Comme des Garcons by Rei Kawakubo are used to apply TRIZ in fashion design. Rei Kawakubo's design philosophy has been studied through fashion writings and visual sources in books, exhibition catalog, www. style. com and online shopping mall sites. This study has selected four principles among forty inventive theories of TRIZ: segmentation; asymmetry; consolidation; and preliminary action to apply to Rei Kawakubo's fashion design. As a result, TRIZ can be applicable to fashion design as a creative thinking methodology. By using the four principles of TRIZ, this study shows how Rei Kawakubo's design enhanced its efficiency and aesthetics of the products and was distinguished from existing items. It is meaningful to demonstrate a possibility of adopting engineering based creative methodology in fashion design to widen the perspective and to raise a question for the need of interdisciplinary creative methodology with traditional aesthetic approach in fashion design.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.40-57
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• 2013

In examining the relationship between fashion and art which are intimately interrelated, the body is a suitable subject in that it is the common object of representation. This study investigates and compares the images of the body in Francis Bacon's paintings from 1940s to 1970s and the formative aspect and aesthetic value of the abstract body images in Rei Kawakubo's designs since 1980s. The figures in Bacon's paintings are confusingly and atypically deformed as well as distorted, which are the combinations of the anatomies without references, not so much represented objects as experienced sense. Kawakubo's designs attempt to deform the body, moreover, she transforms the body; represent abstract forms without association with any other figures that exist, emphasizing sculptural or architectural shapes of garment. She suggests extensive visual language of dress by challenging the norms of beauty. The body in Bacon and Kawakubo's works is dispersive as well as complex in that the body images are deconstructed, fragmented, and exaggerated. Respectively, they articulate the perception of the body in postmodernism era by destroying the myth of subject; furthermore establish the aesthetics that transcend conventional ideals by reevaluating as well as refusing the standards of beauty.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.626-641
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• 2016

Maximalism in modern fashion, which is contrary to the current fashion market that emphasizes functionality and practicality, is an important notion that has been expressed in a variety of ways through designer's unique sense with a mixture of experimental design. With such creative work that suits a trend in novel fashion design, Rei Kawakubo is a current representative of Comme des Garcons who has not only introduced deconstructivism and Japanese-style avant-garde to the fashion industry for the first time. Our research, thus, analyzed the characteristic of maximalism's expression based on the features represented in her collection. Firstly, Expandability is classified as a method of distorting parts of a body and a method of excessively overinflating the silhouette of clothing. Secondly, decorations are expressed in the other as blending different types of materials together. Thirdly, fantasy evokes a fresh and stimulating surreal sensation that may only be felt in an imagination by assigning supernatural and amusing expression to the garment. The forth, fusion refers to a creation of novelty from combining various types of elements and images. The fifth, experiment is unique trait that develops mysterious images, consisted of various details. The sixth, non-structure is different from an initial form of garment that maintains a bilateral symmetry. The importance of our research lies in proposing a fundamental data for development of creative design as well as in expanding a range of possible expression for maximalism, by analyzing the characteristics of maximalism seen in Rei Kawakubo's collection.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.65 no.8
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• pp.125-135
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• 2015

This study is a theoretical research based on previous domestic and international researches. The case study proceeded by collecting images from periodicals such as International Men's magazine GQ, First of all website(www.style.com) and Vogue website(www.vogue.com) were viewed. The images were selected had shapes, colors, and motives with Japanese aesthetic traits from Comme des Garçons' men's Collections of 2011 F/W to 2016 S/S. The purpose of this study is to find out the possible sources of forms and expressive methods of future fashion through Japanese traditional aesthetics of Rai Kawakubo's fashion world. Designers are expected to continue on using traditional aesthetic beauties of other countries as sources of modern fashion.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1261-1274
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• 1997

Contemporary costume by the 'Deconstruction' from the outside has shown disclosure, destruction, poverty and analysis. The conclusion of this thesis as follows, 1. The Deconstruction of disclosure by infra disclosed the underwear and inner structure outside, which has deconstructed a fixed idea i.e.'underwear must be in outwear', modesty versus immodesty and disclosure versus concealment. 2. The Deconstruction of destruction originated in punk look has rejected traditional manners and utility, at the same time, it has shown the ambivalence i.e. completeness versus incompleteness, making versus destructing by slashes, rips, fringes. 3. The Deconstruction of poverty has appeared as French avangarde mode, little black dress by Chanel, second hand style by hippy, blue jean, granny look, especially Rei Kawakubo's poor look influenced by Zen Aesthetics and post punk. It has looked like old and worn out dress by doing patchwork, dye, decolor, rip, fray, which has shown the decentring by concealing the body than disclosing, rejecting snobbery. 4. The Deconstruction of analysis, seemingly partial and patched is a violation only of our expectation of clothing's unbroken entity though it has looked like a fragment. The completeness and coherence of it is made more evident by its breach, void, and bond like a poetic language. As the result, disclosed, destructed, poor, and analytical costumes has expressed as an escape from the appearance which traditional aesthetic concept had pursued.