Autorentext

Terry Newman is a best-selling author whose work spans fashion, music, and cultural history. She has written a wide-ranging series of music and fashion biographies on major contemporary artists including Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Billie Eilish, examining the intersection of style, identity, and popular culture. She has written acclaimed fashion history books including Legendary Authors and the Clothes They Wore and Legendary Artists and the Clothes They Wore. She is also the author of Marilyn Style, created in collaboration with Marilyn Monroe’s estate. Her wider work includes consulting on documentaries about Twiggy and Mary Quant, as well as contributions to i-D’s Fashion Now, Fashion Now 2, and Soul i-D. Earlier in her career, Terry worked in the fashion industry throughout the 1990s as an editor at i-D, Attitude, and Self Service, and as a writer for The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, and The Sunday Times. She also wrote and presented fashion programmes for Channel 4, including She’s Gotta Have It and Slave. Today, she is an Assistant Professor at Regent’s University London, where she teaches alongside her writing and research.

Klappentext

'The Genius of Rei Kawakubo: The woman who founded Comme des Garçons' celebrates a designer that is revered as the most avant-garde and experimental in the world.

"My approach is simple. It is nothing other than what I am thinking at the time I make each piece of clothing…The result is something that other people decide." - Rei Kawakibo, Interview Magazine, 2008

“Kawakubo’s will matches that of Coco Chanel and her influence goes perhaps even further; she is a designer who sees a bigger picture and has impacted the very shape of fashion, moving its foundations.” - Terry Newman

The Genius of Rei Kawakubo: The woman who founded Comme des Garçons celebrates a designer that is revered as the most avant-garde and experimental in the world. Having created a fashion label that is a global inspiration and one of the few independent brands still run by its founder, Kawakubo infuses her designs with the philosophies of Mu-Ma and Wabi-Sabi to create clothes that are truly special.

Beginning with Kawakubo’s early days when she began developing her brand in Japan, The Genius of Rei Kawakubo: The woman who founded Comme des Garçons goes on to look at her principles of anti-fashion and the art of imperfection, including seminal design details from some of her key collections. With chapters on Kawakubo’s collaborations with other designers, her shops, perfumes, and lots more, this book presents the brand and its founder in all its glorious detail.

Written by Terry Newman – the bestselling author of Marilyn Monroe Style – we learn just how canny a businesswoman and creative an artist Kawakubo is and how, through various avenues and alliances, she has created a vast Comme des Garçons empire.

Zusammenfassung
'The Genius of Rei Kawakubo: The woman who founded Comme des Garçons' celebrates a designer that is revered as the most avant-garde and experimental in the world.

Inhalt

Foreword Introduction Chapter 1 - Early Days: Rei Born and Made Chapter 2 – Development and Expansion Chapter 3 – Anti-Fashion and the Art of Imperfection Chapter 4 – Away from the Body and Distortion Chapter 5 – Signature Shade: Black Chapter 6 – A Business-Woman Artist Chapter 7 – Anything But Clothes Chapter 8 – Communicating Ideas and Expressing Origination Seminal design detail sections A Rose is a Rose is a Rose Look Again Fashion A Cute Side of Comme Polka Dots and Gingham Punk: Anger is Energy Key collection entries Autumn/Winter 2013: The Infinity of Tailoring Autumn/Winter 2005: Broken Brides Autumn/Winter 2015: Ceremony of Separation Spring/Summer 2018: Multi-Dimensional Graffiti Autumn 2023: Return to Source Spring/Summer 2007: Cubism Chapter 9 – Menswear: Comme des Garçons Hommes [1,194] Key menswear collection entries Spring/Summer 2017: Naked King [226] Spring/Summer 2015: Army of Peace [320] Spring/Summer 2023: Another Kind of Punk [406] Spring/Summer 2025: Hope of Light [284] Chapter 10 – Junya Watanabe: One of the Family [736] Chapter 11 – Collaborations: Looking for Common Ground [1,166] Chapter 12 – Shops: Rei’s Spaces [1,153] Chapter 13 – Parfum: Smells Like Rei’s Spirit [1,043] Chapter 14 – Celebrities: The Stars We Are [680] Chapter 15 – Rei’s Style: She’s Got the Look [774] Afterword Bibliography Index Photo credits Acknowledgements