« I am not trying to create clothes or objects, but ideas that challenge the way we see. »
Rei Kawakubo (born in 1942) is a Japanese designer whose work has profoundly transformed contemporary fashion. Founder of Comme des Garçons in 1969, she established a radical language from the 1980s onwards that challenged notions of beauty, function, and silhouette. Alongside her work in fashion, she developed a limited body of furniture designed for Comme des Garçons boutiques. Produced in very small series, these pieces transpose her formal vocabulary into space and are now considered among the rarest and most sought-after creations in collectible design. Ketabi Bourdet gallery presents a selection of these historical works, offering a glimpse into a lesser-known facet of her practice.
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Chaise n°7
« Creating something new means questioning everything that already exists. »
Rei Kawakubo (born in Tokyo in 1942) is one of the most influential figures in contemporary creative practice. She graduated from Keio University, where she studied literature, philosophy, and fine arts, and founded Comme des Garçons in 1969 before establishing the company in 1973. From her earliest collections, she developed a deeply experimental approach in which clothing became a means of challenging aesthetic, social, and cultural conventions.
Her arrival in Paris in 1981 marked a turning point in the history of fashion. Comme des Garçons collections, characterised by deconstructed volumes, asymmetrical silhouettes, and a palette dominated by black, disrupted the codes of Western ready-to-wear. This radical vision established Rei Kawakubo as one of the leading figures of conceptual fashion and has had a lasting influence on several generations of designers.
Alongside her work in fashion, Rei Kawakubo began developing an exceptional body of furniture in the 1980s for Comme des Garçons boutiques in Tokyo and Paris. Chairs, tables, and interior architectural elements extended the formal explorations pursued in her fashion collections. Made from wood, steel, or metal, these creations favour essential forms, rigorous geometry, and a sculptural presence that extends far beyond their utilitarian function. Produced in very small quantities, they now constitute one of the rarest bodies of work in contemporary design.
Rei Kawakubo’s work extends far beyond the realm of fashion. In 2017, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York devoted the exhibition Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between to her, making her one of the very few living designers to receive a retrospective at the Costume Institute. This institutional recognition underscores the importance of her work in the history of contemporary creative practice.
Ketabi Bourdet gallery is particularly interested in the historical furniture designed by Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons. Through a selection of rare pieces presented in exhibitions and at international art fairs, the gallery sheds light on this little-known body of work, where design, architecture, and sculpture converge in a remarkably radical visual language.
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IN BETWEEN
Ketabi Bourdet - 22, passage Dauphine 75006 Paris 24 April - 22 May 2025La galerie Ketabi Bourdet a la joie de présenter In Between , une exposition collective rassemblant des œuvres de plasticiens, de designers, et plus généralement d’artistes qui évoluent à la...Read more -
Sculptures
Set design by Bruno Rousseaud 12 - 18 June 2023The desire to present this ensemble came after the visual shock of the exhibition of Thierry Barbier Mueller’s chair collection staged by Robert Wilson at the MUDAC in Lausanne last...Read more
Publications
- Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
- Six (magazine published by Comme des Garçons)
- Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion
- Rei Kawakubo – Interview Magazine
Public Collections
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Centre Pompidou
- Kyoto Costume Institute
- Victoria & Albert Museum