Comme des Garcons or CDG is a fashion label out of Japan that was founded in 1969 by Rei Kawakubo. Comme des Garcons means “like some boys” in French and it was inspired by a song titled “All the Boys and Girls” by Francisco Hardy. This makes sense as a name because CDG is focused on blurring the gender norms in fashion since the beginning of the label. Comme des Garcons has quite a worldwide presence with stores in Paris, London, Melbourne, Hong Kong, New York City, and more.
Comme des Garcons designs and sells men’s and women’s apparel, jewelry, and fragrances. CDG also includes many different diffusion fashion lines like PLAY, Noir, Homme, Homme Plus, SHIRT, as well as others.
History of the Label
Rei Kawakubo started the label in Tokyo in 1969 (the label was not officially established until 1973). The brand was a success in Japan during the 1970s and a menswear line was introduced in 1978. The debut show for Comme des Garcons occurred in 1981 in Paris. This show was highly criticized by French fashion enthusiasts because of the heavy use of blacks and unfinished seams. Comme des Garcons was highly controversial and disliked by experts throughout the brand’s early history in the 80s and 90s because of the punk and avant-garde styles. Despite the negative reviews, the brand continued to see success with its consumers and fans throughout the world. In 2004 Comme des Garcons started to split into the many diffusion brands that are known today. The most popular would be CDG PLAY, which is the famous casual luxury line featuring the heart logo created by Filip Pagowski.
Comme des Garcons Fashion
Many of the collections are designed in Japan while the garments are made in Japan, France, Spain, and Turkey. In addition to clothing, the label has been associated with and been a part of the arts and cultural projects. Comme des Garcons has become one of the most popular and loved luxury fashion labels because of its Avant-Garde and unconventional styles. Other notable designers such as Junya Watanabe and Tao Kurihara have started their own sub-labels under the brand after working on the main label. Comme des Garcons has collaborated with many other brands such as Chrome Hearts, Supreme, Levis, H&M, and Stussy.
Diffusion Line History
In addition to its main label, many fashion designers create other labels known as diffusion brands. Each label has its own purpose such as reaching a younger demographic or for a more mainstream purpose for example. Comme des Garcons has an exhaustive list of diffusion brands and below I list each one and the designer behind each sub-label.
Designed by Rei Kawakubo
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- Comme des Garçons
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- Comme des Garçons Noir
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- Comme des Garçons Homme Plus
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- Comme des Garçons Homme Plus Sport
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- Comme des Garçons Homme Plus Evergreen
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- Comme des Garçons Homme Deux
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- Comme des Garçons Shirt
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- Comme des Garçons Shirt Girl
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- Comme des Garçons Shirt Boy
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- Comme des Garçons Girl
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- Play Comme des Garçons
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- BLACK Comme des Garçons
Designed by Junya Watanabe
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- Comme des Garçons Homme
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- Comme des Garçons Robe de Chambre
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- Junya Watanabe Comme des Garçons
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- Junya Watanabe Comme des Garçons Man
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- Junya Watanabe Comme des Garçons Man Pink
Designed by Tao Kurihara
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- Tao Comme des Garçons
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- Tricot Comme des Garçons
Designed by Fumito Ganryu
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- Ganryu Comme des Garçons
Designed by Kei Ninomiya
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- Noir Kei Ninomiya
Comme des Garcons Fragrances and Perfumes
Comme des Garcons produces a line of perfumes and fragrances that are aligned with their styles and garments. Many would say that these perfumes are unconventional in the world of fragrances.
Comme des Garcons released its first perfume labeled Comme des Garcons in 1994. It then released its first anti-perfume (a perfume that reacts differently on each wearer’s skin, thus creating a different scent) Odeur 53 in 1998. The anti-perfume is a blend of 53 different notes that creates a striking and powerful scent. Some of these notes include metal, nail polish, mineral carbon, burnt rubber, sand dunes, flaming rock, and more.
Summary
Comme des Garcons is one of the most popular luxury brands today and possibly one of the most important brands of all time. If you are looking for your first or next piece from Comme des Garcons check out The RealReal to get amazing garments for a fraction of the price.