Rei Kawakubo

Photo courtesy of Vogue

Rei Kawakubo is a Japanese fashion designer who is the founder of Comme des Garçons, a label known for its anti-fashion, austere, and deconstructed garments. She is one of the most influential and innovative designers in the world, and she has been praised for her artistic vision and creativity.

She was born in Tokyo in 1942 and studied fine arts and literature at Keio University. She started her own company in 1969 and opened her first boutique in Tokyo in 1975. She began to show her collections in Paris in 1981 and opened a boutique there in 1982. She has also created other brands, such as Junya Watanabe, Noir Kei Ninomiya, and Dover Street Market.

She is known for challenging the conventional notions of beauty, gender, and identity in fashion. Her designs often feature dark colors, oversized shapes, asymmetrical cuts, and unconventional materials. She has also collaborated with other artists, such as Merce Cunningham, Cindy Sherman, and Björk.

Photo courtesy of Vogue

Lumps and Bumps Dress

The lumps and bumps dress was part of her spring 1997 collection, titled Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body. She used gingham check fabric, which is usually associated with innocence and nostalgia, and added bulging pads to various parts of the garment. The pads created distorted and irregular shapes that contrasted with the natural curves of the human body.

She wanted to challenge the conventional notions of beauty, symmetry, and proportion in fashion and society. She also wanted to explore the relationship between the body and the dress, and how they affect each other. She said: "The body becomes dress, dress becomes body."

The lumps and bumps dress caused a lot of reactions and debates among critics, journalists, and audiences. Some praised it as a groundbreaking and artistic expression, while others criticized it as ugly and offensive. Some even compared it to tumors or deformities.

The lumps and bumps dress is now considered a masterpiece of avant-garde fashion. It has been exhibited in many museums and galleries around the world, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It has also influenced many other designers and artists who have experimented with similar concepts.

Photo courtesy of Medium

Two-Dimensional Dress

The two-dimensional dress was part of her fall/winter 2012 collection, titled Flat. She used a single piece of fabric that had no seams, darts, or openings, and folded and stitched it together to create a dress. The dress had a flat and abstract silhouette that contrasted with the three-dimensional shape of the human body.

She wanted to challenge the conventional notions of depth and creativity in the fashion industry. She also wanted to explore the concept of emptiness, or mu, in Japanese philosophy. She said: "The future is two dimensions."

The two-dimensional dress was praised by some critics as a radical and artistic expression, while others questioned its practicality and wearability. Some also compared it to origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.

Photo courtesy of British Vogue

Motorcycle Jacket

The motorcycle jacket was part of her spring/summer 1981 collection, titled Destroy. She used leather, zippers, studs, chains, and patches to reinvent the classic biker jacket as a dress. She also experimented with different colors, fabrics, and shapes to create a variety of styles.

She wanted to challenge the conventional notions of elegance and femininity in fashion and society. She also wanted to express her admiration for the subculture of motorcycle gangs, which she saw as a symbol of freedom and resistance. She said: "I like the look of bikers because they have a strong image.

The motorcycle jacket was criticized by some critics as vulgar and violent, while others praised it as innovative and daring. It became a symbol of her punk and new wave aesthetic, which influenced many other designers, such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen, and Rick Owens.