Object: Ensemble
Brand:
Comme des Garçons
(Japanese, founded 1969)
Designer:
Rei Kawakubo
(born 1942)
Date: 1999
Medium: White polyester/polyeurethane blend
Country: Japan
Credit Line: Gift of Rita Watnick - Michael Stoyle, Lily et Cie
Object number: 2005.3.1
DescriptionWhite evening dress and bolero in white polyester / polyeurethane blend, asymmetrically covered with large sheer and small tulle-like ruffles; long dress with vest fastening as bodysuit over sheer full length sleeveless dress with peter pan collar; shrug style bolero with convertible collar, short sleeves
Label Text:At one point, Rei Kawakubo made the enigmatic statement: "Red is black." She did not mean anything as banal as the cliche that "red is the new black." Rather, she apparently meant that red had the same visual and symbolic power as black. White is often perceived as the absence of color or, indeed, the absence of any mark, as in the image of a clean white sheet of paper. White is also associated with light. Some scholars believe that white, black, and red constitute a special triad of colors to which humans respond most strongly (apparently, we are highly receptive to the contrast between black and white, while red grabs our attention). In contrast to the wealth of symbolic associations conjured by black and red, white seems relatively impoverished. It is "pure," "clean," "virginal" in the West and the color of mourning in much of Asia. Kawakubo has been slow to explore white systematically, although her magnificent "wedding" collection of fall 2005 consisted almost entirely of white or off-white garments. This particular evening ensemble of 1999 seems to reference the "innocence" of white, with its Peter Pan collar and surface decoration of ruffles. That said, Kawakubo's clothes resist interpretation, which is part of their appeal.
In Collection(s)
Exhibitions:
- Form Follows Fashion
- She's like a Rainbow: Colors in Fashion