Rei Kawakubo’s advertising style for Comme Des Garcons has always been radically unorthodox. She has always viewed her fashion as an art form and her advertising reflects that. Kawakubo has a unique approach to the idea of marketing, typically using seemingly random images and design to convey the brand's ethos.

In 2015 Rei Kawakubo collaborated with the anonymous French photographer and street artist JR for an ad campaign. JR’s work draws attention to under-represented groups by featuring and involving these people in the art he creates. Kawakubo is a fan of his art and decided to with JR on an obscure international campaign for Comme Des Garcons. These portraits are of people from Kawakubo’s direct mail advertisements, printed large scale with the help of locals, and displayed in places you wouldn’t expect to see Comme Des Garcons ads. JR’s guerilla street art mixed with Kawakubo’s style of marketing allowed the ads to be viewed and appreciated in unexpected areas around the world at a large scale.

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Writer: Khan