Genius of Rei Kawakubo: The woman who founded Comme des Garçons
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- ISBN 9781788843324
- Dimensions: 240 x 300mm
- Publication Date: 22 Sep 2026
- Publisher: ACC Art Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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"My approach is simple. It is nothing other than what I am thinking at the time I make each piece of clothing…The result is something that other people decide." - Rei Kawakibo, Interview Magazine, 2008
“Kawakubo’s will matches that of Coco Chanel and her influence goes perhaps even further; she is a designer who sees a bigger picture and has impacted the very shape of fashion, moving its foundations.” - Terry Newman
The Genius of Rei Kawakubo: The woman who founded Comme des Garçons celebrates a designer that is revered as the most avant-garde and experimental in the world. Having created a fashion label that is a global inspiration and one of the few independent brands still run by its founder, Kawakubo infuses her designs with the philosophies of Mu-Ma and Wabi-Sabi to create clothes that are truly special.
Beginning with Kawakubo’s early days when she began developing her brand in Japan, The Genius of Rei Kawakubo: The woman who founded Comme des Garçons goes on to look at her principles of anti-fashion and the art of imperfection, including seminal design details from some of her key collections. With chapters on Kawakubo’s collaborations with other designers, her shops, perfumes, and lots more, this book presents the brand and its founder in all its glorious detail.
Written by Terry Newman – the bestselling author of Marilyn Monroe Style – we learn just how canny a businesswoman and creative an artist Kawakubo is and how, through various avenues and alliances, she has created a vast Comme des Garçons empire.
Terry Newman is a best-selling author whose work spans fashion, music, and cultural history. She has written a wide-ranging series of music and fashion biographies on major contemporary artists including Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Billie Eilish, examining the intersection of style, identity, and popular culture. She has written acclaimed fashion history books including Legendary Authors and the Clothes They Wore and Legendary Artists and the Clothes They Wore. She is also the author of Marilyn Style, created in collaboration with Marilyn Monroe’s estate. Her wider work includes consulting on documentaries about Twiggy and Mary Quant, as well as contributions to i-D’s Fashion Now, Fashion Now 2, and Soul i-D. Earlier in her career, Terry worked in the fashion industry throughout the 1990s as an editor at i-D, Attitude, and Self Service, and as a writer for The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, and The Sunday Times. She also wrote and presented fashion programmes for Channel 4, including She’s Gotta Have It and Slave. Today, she is an Assistant Professor at Regent’s University London, where she teaches alongside her writing and research.
