COMME des GARÇONS

Quick facts

COMME des GARÇONS at a glance

Behind the label

Rei Kawakubo

Based

Tokyo and Paris, Japan

Since

1969

Focus

Ready-to-wear

Makes

Womenswear and menswear, including the Homme Plus line shown in Paris

Official site

comme-des-garcons.com ↗

Instagram

@commedesgarcons ↗

The person and the label

Who is behind COMME des GARÇONS?

Rei Kawakubo, born in 1942 according to The Met, began making womenswear under the Comme des Garçons name in 1969, incorporated the company in 1973 and added menswear in 1978, the Fédération records. The first show was in Tokyo in 1975, a Paris company followed in 1981, and she still leads the house. The Kyoto Costume Institute holds an Autumn/Winter 1983 knit ensemble cut largely from one straight panel. In 2017 The Met’s Costume Institute gave her its first monographic show on a living designer since Yves Saint Laurent in 1983. The womenswear, and Homme Plus menswear, showed on every official Paris calendar we checked from FW24 to SS27; the company also houses Junya Watanabe and Noir Kei Ninomiya, Kei Ninomiya’s label since 2012.

Timeline

COMME des GARÇONS, dated

1. 1969Rei Kawakubo starts making womenswear under the Comme des Garçons name. Source ↗
2. 1975Holds its first show, in Tokyo. Source ↗
3. 1981Sets up a company in Paris. Source ↗
4. 4 May 2017The Met opens Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between, on view until 4 September 2017. Source ↗
5. 3 October 2026Shows its SS27 womenswear on the official Paris calendar. Source ↗

More from Japan

Other Japan labels to know

• Yohji Yamamoto Ready-to-wear · since 1972
• ISSEY MIYAKE Ready-to-wear · since 1970
• JUNYA WATANABE Ready-to-wear · since 1992
• sacai Ready-to-wear · since 1999
• UNDERCOVER Streetwear and contemporary · since 1990
• ANREALAGE Ready-to-wear · since 2003
• Mame Kurogouchi Ready-to-wear · since 2010
• AURALEE Menswear · since 2015
• doublet Streetwear and contemporary · since 2012
• SOSHIOTSUKI Menswear · since 2015
• pillings Textile heritage · since 2020

Read the full Japan guide, with the method behind it and where to see the work in person.

Sources

Sources

1. FHCM — Comme des Garçons house page checked 22 October 2026
2. FHCM — Noir Kei Ninomiya house page checked 22 October 2026
3. The Met — Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between (exhibition page) checked 22 October 2026
4. The Met — press release for the 2017 Kawakubo exhibition checked 22 October 2026
5. Kyoto Costume Institute — Rei Kawakubo sweater and skirt, Autumn/Winter 1983 checked 22 October 2026
6. FHCM — official calendars, FW24 to SS27 checked 22 October 2026

Represent COMME des GARÇONS and spotted an error? Send a correction with a link to the record.