How Comme des Garçons Changed More Than Clothes

What connects Comme des Garçons, UNDERCOVER, sacai, and Dover Street Market? The answer goes beyond the clothes. This documentary follows Rei Kawakubo and the cultural world that grew around Comme des Garçons. From Japan before the Paris debut to the shock of black, a knit with holes, guerrilla stores, and new generations of designers, we explore how ideas find an audience and take on lives of their own. Junya Watanabe, Jun Takahashi, Chitose Abe, Adrian Joffe, emerging designers, and the people who wear the clothes reveal different relationships to that world. Their stories show how a distinctive vision can create room for other people to make something of their own. CHAPTERS 00:00 Comme des Garçons — a cultural world 00:47 Why black caused a shock 03:27 Before Paris 06:23 How an image travels 08:07 Different designers, different answers 13:49 Places to encounter new work 17:25 Wearers make it their own 20:10 Beyond the image of black 22:03 The cultural world we traced ABOUT INTANGIBLE CULTURE Discover the stories behind Japan’s distinctive cultures and how they continue to shape life today. We follow the people, places, and encounters that shaped them, tracing connections across generations, regions, and cultures. Subscribe for more stories about Japanese culture, design, and everyday life. SELECTED SOURCES AND IMAGE CREDITS Further credits and dates appear alongside the material in the film. National Gallery of Victoria — Rei Kawakubo reframing fashion https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/collecting-comme/rei-kawakubo-reframing-fashion/ Victoria and Albert Museum — Jumper by Rei Kawakubo, 1982, T.167-1985. Museum images © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O73390/jumper-kawakubo-rei/ MoMu — Comme des Garçons, 1983. Photograph © Peter Lindbergh. https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/comme-des-gar%C3%A7ons-%C2%A9-peter-lindbergh-rei-kawakubo/qAFGEMND0LzZHw ICON — Guerrilla retailing, May 2004 https://www.iconeye.com/back-issues/