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‘Ideas For Corporate Salvation,’ the 6th issue of Guerillazine Magazine, is the final installment of the only visual archive of every COMME des GARÇONS Guerrilla Store. Starting in 2004 and ending in 2009, each Guerilla Store encompassed a raw, minimalistic space previously used for utilitarian purposes. Grocery stores, warehouses, and fruit shops in Stalinist-era cities like Helsinski, Berlin, and Reykjavik were lightly renovated to act as showrooms and archive displays for CdG collections. The goal was to spend as little money as possible on the interior designs; a number of extremely successful retail spaces were realized that exceeded sales expectations and elevated the avant-garde legacy of COMME des GARÇONS. Stores began to pop-up in more cities like Singapore, Athens, Beirut, and finally in Los Angeles. Some were sterile and organized; others were full-blown chaotic. The structured chaos of each pop-up store defined the innovative and out-of-the-box foundations of CdG in the 2000s. 

The magazine issue was edited by the Singapore designer Theseus Chan, who started WERK, a magazine that utilizes hands-on intervention to customize each copy. Chan approached this issue of Guerillazine with the same methodology. Copies of Issue 6 were hand-torn, drenched in water, and hand-stressed to look like an artifact. Nails were incorporated to build rust, and the entire front and back covers were burned. Like the pop-ups, the magazine was structured chaos, celebrating the rawness that is characteristic of COMME des GARÇONS.

Comme Des Garçons in french simply means 'like boys', with the brand of the same phrase being created by the Japanese mastermind Rei Kawakubo. She first founded the label in 1969 in Tokyo and it quickly began to gain popularity in the 70’s. CDG released its first menswear line in 1978 with their first ever runway show in Paris a few years later in 1981. The brand was often associated with a thrashed-punk style and many of her early collections were well received during the 80’s and 90’s despite her uncommon creative style. From early on, CDG had many different sub-labels under their umbrella such as CDG Homme Plus and CDG Noir, but by the early 2000’s designers like Junya Watanabe and Fumitu Ganryu had their own lines under the CDG label as well. Each of these lines has its own purpose, while other lines were specific to wallets, fragrances, jewelry, and swimwear.

With the creation of Dover Street Market in 2004, the CDG Play line gained popularity quickly and offered casual streetwear catering to a younger audience in a more accessible price range. The Play line is one of the most recognizable lines from CDG as most of the T-shirts and hoodies are usually decorated with their unsophisticated yet classic heart with eyes logo originally created by Filip Pagowski. The success of CDG eventually led to their first collaboration with the footwear giant Converse in 2009 which has continued since with them releasing many new editions of the shoes. In more recent years, Comme Des Garçons has done collaborations with streetwear and designer brands like Supreme, Louis Vuitton, and Nike, the company has become one of the most successful 'anti-fashion houses' in the industry.

NEO TOKYO IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE. This instantly recognizable phrase is from one of the anime industry’s most iconic films, Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo. From the movie’s explosion in popularity to its dedicated cult following, Otomo became increasingly known for his range of enigmatic creations. As such, it came as no surprise that Rei Kawakubo would collaborate with him for Comme des Garcons’ Spring/Summer 2013 Campaign. The artwork from the campaign features characters, scenes and manga pages from Akira, and are seamlessly combined with Otomo’s more standalone art pieces. This collage of imagery results in the form of familiar yet alien pieces of works, drawing parallels with CDG’s deconstructed and raw clothing of the 80’s. The collaboration has proven to stand the test of time, with the collaboration’s prints and items still being sought after to this very day.

Katsuhiro Otomo for Comme des Garcons DM 17

Guerillazine: No.6 Ideas for Corporate Salvation

When people hear the name ‘Comme des Garcons’, a wide variety of images and feelings pop up, proving that the Japanese brand has created an aesthetic universe of its own. This masterful execution of fashion world building couldn't have been fully expanded upon without the catalyst that was the SIX Magazine. Created in 1988, SIX served as a breeding ground for experimental branding with a small twist: the branding rarely (if ever) involved Comme des Garcons’ own clothing. Instead of falling back on conventional methods of fashion advertising, the bi-annual publication incorporated non fashion related artwork and photography to convey the Japanese brand’s collections. SIX also tapped into a wide array of creatives who sometimes weren’t even involved in the industry, and yet this is exactly what gave fashion a breath of fresh air. Not only did SIX solidify Comme des Garcons as an entire entity of its own, it also changed our own perception of fashion to this very day.

SIX Number 4

SIX Number 3


'Rei Kawakubo and Comme Des Garçons' not only shares with us an inside look at some of the most well-known CDG collections from the 1980’s, but also gives us insight into the depth and universality of her talent. We are able to see the behind the scenes of Kawakubo’s design studio, furniture designs, and CDG store interior design from all over the world. Kawakubo was also expanding and experimenting her range of runway models at the time, and began to work with celebrity names like Jean-Michel Basquiat and John Malkovich. We also see some beautiful images of the famous supermodel Naomi Campbell wearing CDG photographed by Peter Lindbergh, as well as several pages of behind the scenes content and runway show images.

It is wonderful to be able to see Kawakubo’s interior design process for her stores in London, San Francisco, and Aoyama which carried CDG’s entire collection. Featuring sharp angles and contrast, everything about each store has been specifically selected or designed to match the aesthetic of the brand, everything from the lighting to the clothing racks to the changing room had been personally picked out by Rei Kawakubo. This book shows us how far-reaching Rei’s talents are, showing no boundaries when it comes to one discipline or another. She isn't just a clothing designer, but a creator and curator of her entire vision.

Rei Kawakubo and Comme des Garcons

Katsuhiro Otomo for Comme des Garcons DM 5

Released in very limited amounts in 1997, Comme des Garcons Visionnaire 20 was a rare peek back into the archives of Rei Kawakubo and Comme des Garcons. The book itself was highly limited, with only 2,800 copies being produced, and each one being hand numbered. What's contained within the pages of this book is more interesting than its limited nature.

Rather than merely having Kawakubo and her label's staff put together outfits, she decided to let other visionaries such as Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen, and Nick Knight each put together looks for the book. By digging through CDG archives stretching back as far as 1982, each creator had a wide array of garments to choose from. What resulted from this meeting of creative minds is nothing short of genius, with each participant producing radically different images. Ranging from metal restraints, to the streets of Hong Kong, the outfits fused the avant-garde works of CDG with a wide variety of fashion philosophies and settings. The looks themselves are marvelous, with some being glitzy and glamorous, while others toyed with darker themes. The book itself is now considered a collectors item, with prices ranging anywhere from 1,000-2,000 USD.

CDG and by extension Kawakubo are best known for their avant-garde works, which range all the way from deconstructed garments to fragrances. The theme that has tied decades of her and CDGs’ work together has been the commitment to being unflinchingly artistic. In this book, she let artists take her work out of this context, and create something new out of her existing ideas, in a quite rare move for Kawakubo. The outfits featured in the book mainly show the stylist’s idea of fashion, but like darkness creeping across the land, Kawakubo's influence shadows and lords over all of it.

Visionaire 20: Comme des Garcons

Katsuhiro Otomo for Comme des Garcons DM 25

Katsuhiro Otomo for Comme des Garcons DM 24

This Universe of Fashion book was released in 1998 under Rei Kawakubo’s Comme des Garcons label and features iconic advertisements and photographs used in CDG's Direct Mail ads. As described in the short article from Universe of Fashion, Rei Kawakubo is an honest and sincere designer, and enjoys working and collaborating with creatives and artists of all types. She loves experimenting with other artists including photographers, graphic designers, architects, and even floral artists. After looking through some of the Direct Mail ads, it is clear that Kawakubo really enjoys the process of working alongside other people and how she can trust other artists with her vision. Universe of Fashion also explains her interest in photography and color, both of which have directly impacted the clothing she makes and the imagery she puts out to represent her brand Comme Des Garçcons.

Universe of Fashion: Comme des Garcons

Katsuhiro Otomo for Comme des Garcons DM 13

Katsuhiro Otomo for Comme des Garcons DM 1

Rei Kawakubo has been perpetually pushing the fashion world forward through Comme Des Garcons since her designs first hit the market in 1969, and her SS1997 show ‘Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body’ was no exception. Featuring bumpy, asymmetrical lumps without rhyme or rhythm, the season was just as perplexing during that time as it is now. However, the manner in which this season was advertised may shed some light on Kawakubo’s intent and inspiration. Featured in CDG SIX 1/4 in collaboration with Visionaire No. 20, the advertising images were featured next to photos of seafood and various crustaceans of similar colors. In the amorphous designs of that season, Kawakubo may have been referencing humanity's genetic origins, or perhaps even the way forms mutate and shift over millennia as evolution takes its course.

SIX 1/4

Katsuhiro Otomo for Comme des Garcons DM 14

Katsuhiro Otomo for Comme des Garcons DM 18

SIX Number 6

SIX Number 5

Comme des Garcons

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Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body

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Guerillazine: No.6 Ideas for Corporate Salvation