People may express their emotions through words, dancing, singing or painting. For designers they express their emotions through their collections. Rei Kawakubo, a Japanese fashion designer and owner of Commes des Garcons, is a designer who knows how to unleash emotions through her designs. Her fall 2009 RTW collection includes secretive veiled faces with misplaced painted lips, layers of flesh-toned tulle and deconstructed sleeveless trench coats, making her fall collection just as distinctive as her past collections.
With an educational background in fine arts and literature, Rei Kawakubo started Commes des Garcons (French for “like some boys”) in 1973 and opened her first boutique in Paris in 1982. Through her anti-fashion and child-like designs, she challenges beauty with geometrical shapes, asymmetrical shapes and deconstructed garments that often lacked a sleeve or another piece. What’s more, her spring 2009 RTW collection was displayed in a limited color palette of black, grey and white; primarily black.
While a few of her lines are accessible, Kawakubo creates lines predominantly for the Japanese market: Homme, Homme Deux, Tricot and Robe de Chambre. Today, Kawakubo’s $180 million fashion empire with over 200 franchises around the world continues to inspire designers, like Marc Jacobs, and the fashion food chain.
Author: Janine Huynh
With so many Korean fashion brands and influences to choose from, we have selected some the finest and coolest Korean fashion brands including Atelier de Sappho, Beccgirl, Dodostyle and prischu. 
