Comme des Garçons: Dissolved Codes

For the third – and final – instalment of our Comme des Garçons displays from Aro’s research archive, we look at the ongoing craftsmanship of reimagining the raw materials of clothing. Here, Archive Manager Joseph O’Brien talks us through some key pieces from our research archive that illustrate the theme.

From formals to fatigue, sportswear to suiting, all areas of sartorial detailing have been put through the Comme des Garçons process.

“Deconstructed” has become a Twenty-first Century disposable buzzword for anything relating to a detail slightly off-kilter. But thirty years ago, a specialised flair of Rei Kawakubo and Junya Watanabe was to genuinely deconstruct, reevaluate and reinterpret the predictable codes of wardrobe.

We understand the ingredients of what we see, but in an entirely new configuration. Military outerwear details are manipulated to form a restrictive cape (Junya AW2006), and the historical silhouette of a long Edwardian coat is interspliced with a softly tailored blazer front (Comme SS1995).

These masterful examples of pattern cutting remain a constant go-to for many of Aro Archive’s design clients who rent them for research and inspiration.