Comme des Garcons

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.

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Writer: Khan