Ensemble

Design House (a–d) Comme des Garçons Japanese

Designer Rei Kawakubo Japanese

Designer (e) Stephen Jones British

fall/winter 2007–8

Not on view

Rei Kawakubo's fall/winter 2007-8 collection adopted the surrealist strategies of unexpected distortions of scale and uncanny displacements. The ambience was set for a show of sweetness and innocence, accessorized with Minnie Mouse hats and padded decorations like those seen on a baby pillow or a lingerie bag.

But, as it is Commes des Garçons, the childlike flourishes of little-girl dresses appliquéd on the front of longer garments had a destabilizing effect. Like Alice's disorientation in Wonderland, the viewer at a Commes des Garçons presentation is left feeling that first impressions are never valid, for even an apparent prettiness can mask deeper, subliminal complexities. When the series of ensembles with padded hand motifs appeared, the ostensible playfulness of the gesture paradoxically precipitated the kind of momentary disquiet that a Schiaparelli/Dalí collaboration has never provoked.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Exhibition History

Title: Ensemble
Design House: (a–d) Comme des Garçons (Japanese, founded 1969)
Designer: Rei Kawakubo (Japanese, born 1942)
Designer: (e) Stephen Jones (British, born 1957)
Date: fall/winter 2007–8
Culture: Japanese
Medium: (a, b) synthetic, (c, d) leather, (e) silk, synthetic
Credit Line: Gift of Comme des Garcons, 2007
Object Number: 2007.382.1a–e
Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

More Artwork

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Suit, Comme des Garçons Japanese, linen, French — Suit
Comme des Garçons
1985–95

Shirt, Comme des Garçons Japanese, cotton, Japanese — Shirt
Comme des Garçons
ca. 1990

Sweater, Comme des Garçons Japanese, linen, Japanese — Sweater
Comme des Garçons
1984–87

Ensemble, Comme des Garçons Japanese, linen, synthetic, leather, mother-of-pearl, Japanese — Ensemble
Comme des Garçons
Rei Kawakubo
spring/summer 1985

Tunic, Comme des Garçons Japanese, wool, cotton, synthetic, Japanese — Tunic
Comme des Garçons
Rei Kawakubo
ca. 1992

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