Evening dress
Brand
Comme des Garçons
(Japanese, founded 1969)
Designer
Rei Kawakubo
(born 1942)
Spring 1991
Red silk taffeta and polyester chiffon
Gift of Comme des Garcons
Object number92.23.1
Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons is one of the most influential contemporary designers in the world. Her experiments in shape have often caused consternation, and some critics have even accused her of "deforming" the female body. Yet many of her innovations, such as an emphasis on asymmetry and deconstruction, have dramatically altered the shape of fashion.
DescriptionLong evening dress in red silk taffeta and polyester chiffon, doubled, folded, bias cut and pieced for bubble shape and padded effect; front wide cowl neck with wire armhole loops, long fitted panel extending to deeply draped cape like back cowl and train; shift underdress in chiffon over taffetaExhibitions