In the ever-evolving landscape of fashion, where trends churn quickly and function often meets form in neat, marketable packages, there exists a persistent and defiant outlier—Comme des Garçons. This is not merely a fashion brand; it is a philosophical rebellion stitched into cloth, a visceral challenge to convention, and at times, a confrontation of fashion’s own vanity. Comme Des Garcons At the core of this disruptive aesthetic lies an intentional distortion of the expected—where buttons forget their function, seams run astray, silhouettes are deconstructed, and garments cease to obey traditional logic. Through the subversion of the everyday, Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo creates not just clothing, but protest—against conformity, beauty standards, gender binaries, and the very framework of fashion itself.
The Rebellion Woven in Fabric
The title “When Buttons Forget Their Function” encapsulates the conceptual ethos of Comme des Garçons. In this world, a button is no longer a means to fasten, but a symbol—of memory, defiance, and futility. In Rei Kawakubo’s collections, buttons may be placed arbitrarily on shoulders, sewn shut over sealed pockets, or multiplied absurdly in places where no fastening is needed. Function is discarded in favor of meaning. The garment ceases to be an object of use and becomes a subject of inquiry. What does it mean for something designed to serve a purpose to abandon it? In fashion, this is an act of protest. Kawakubo isn’t designing clothes in the traditional sense—she is designing statements.
From her early collections in the 1980s, which were described by some Western critics as “Hiroshima chic” for their bleak palettes and shredded textures, Kawakubo has been redefining what it means to wear, to dress, and to be seen. Her silhouettes are not made to flatter the body; they are made to distort it, to question it, to amplify its presence through resistance. Bodies are not hidden or displayed—they are obscured, swaddled, challenged. In this way, Comme des Garçons critiques the commodification of the female form, pushing back against an industry that traditionally worships symmetry, elegance, and sensuality.
The Death of Wearability and the Birth of Thought
One of the most radical aspects of Comme des Garçons is its rejection of wearability as a necessary goal. In a world where clothing is judged by how well it fits or how “flattering” it is, Kawakubo’s designs present a deliberate absurdity. The shoulders may be extended to grotesque proportions. The dresses might have no distinguishable front or back. Fabric might gather in unlikely places, forming what critics call “lumps and bumps.” And yet, these are not failures of design but declarations. Kawakubo is not interested in pleasing the eye; she’s interested in disrupting the gaze.
The purpose of such garments is not to be worn in the conventional sense but to be experienced. They challenge the viewer and the wearer alike to reconsider what clothing should do. Should it decorate? Should it seduce? Or can it provoke thought, elicit discomfort, and awaken new forms of self-perception? Comme des Garçons suggests the latter. Fashion, for Kawakubo, is a medium as potent as painting or sculpture—a way of expressing existential ideas.
Genderless Forms and the Breaking of Binaries
Long before the term “genderless fashion” became a buzzword, Rei Kawakubo was creating clothing that defied gender norms. Comme des Garçons collections often blur the lines between masculine and feminine, not as a marketing tactic, but as a natural extension of the brand’s philosophical core. A suit may have the structure of menswear but be rendered in delicate lace. A dress may be constructed like armor, full of harsh lines and bold volume.
In a culture where clothing is still largely categorized by gender, Kawakubo’s work refuses such boundaries. Her garments speak to the idea that identity is not dictated by silhouette or fabric choice. Instead, identity is fluid, chaotic, and deeply individual. Fashion, in this context, becomes a tool of liberation—a means of expressing what society tries to suppress.
Form as Protest, Collection after Collection
Perhaps no collection exemplifies the transformation of form into protest more than the Fall/Winter 2017 “Art of the In-Between.” Models walked down the runway in ensembles that resembled abstract sculptures more than clothes. Some looked like exploded garments; others, like furniture fused to the human form. These were pieces that refused classification—they were neither wearable nor ornamental. And yet, they said more than words could.
Another iconic example is the Spring/Summer 1997 “Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body” collection, widely referred to as the “Lumps and Bumps” collection. It featured padded and distorted dresses that exaggerated the female form in jarring, non-sexual ways. Critics were divided—some called it grotesque, others called it genius. But that division was the point. It wasn’t supposed to be pretty. It was supposed to make you think about the body, about beauty, about what it means to be desirable or undesirable. Kawakubo took the familiar language of fashion and rewrote it in riddles.
The Silence of the Designer, the Loudness of the Clothes
Rei Kawakubo rarely gives interviews. Her silence, however, is filled by the noise of her creations. Her refusal to explain her work invites the audience to engage more deeply with it. Unlike many designers who cloak their work in verbose artistic justifications, Kawakubo allows the garments to speak on their own terms. And they speak volumes. Every fold, every misplaced button, every irregular hem is a piece of a larger conversation.
This absence of a defined narrative creates a democratic space for interpretation. Each viewer brings their own experiences and emotions to the garment. In this way, Comme des Garçons is participatory fashion. It is not didactic; it is evocative.
Conclusion: Fashion as a Mirror, Not a Mask
In a fashion world increasingly driven by commerce, influencer culture, and seasonal cycles, Comme des Garçons stands as a rare philosophical outpost. It reminds us that fashion can be more than decoration. It can be disruption. Comme Des Garcons Hoodie It can be deconstruction. It can be protest. When buttons forget their function, we are invited to remember the function of fashion—not to conform, but to challenge. Not to beautify, but to bare truth.
Rei Kawakubo does not dress the world in garments. She dresses it in questions. And in doing so, she redefines not just what we wear, but how we see.
