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There was already a thread somewhere, although it's probably a good thing that I couldn't find it.
Here's an article in W about the collaboration:
http://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/2008/09/comme_des_garcons
Click the link, see a pic. It's not entirely clear, but I like what I see; very Comme.
Comme and Go
If Swedish fashion chain H&M, with its affordable duds for the
whole family, is from Mars, then Rei Kawakubo?maverick Japanese maker
of clothes with humps and of fragrances named Tar and Garage?is most
certainly from Venus. So if their work together this November on a
Comme des Garçons for H&M collection falls short of a marriage made
in heaven, then it?s at least an affair to remember between unlikely
fashion bedfellows?and one that has produced some very fetching
clothes.
?Certainly we?re opposite,? Kawakubo says, her blunt, black bob
shuddering as she shakes her head for emphasis. ?But I believe the
success of H&M is that they not only start out on the basis of
having to sell a lot of clothes at good prices to a lot of people; they
also look for new ways of doing things, and that?s why I respect them.
This idea of collaborating with designers?that?s something I can
identify with.? And is there anything else she might share with the
firm? ?That?s probably it: the common ground,? she retorts, fiddling
with a ruffle on the sleeve of her jacket (that she wears backward over
a striped T-shirt) while waiting for the next question.
Limited though it may be, that common ground was enough on which to
build a collection for women and men that is ?pure Comme des Garçons,?
as Kawakubo describes it, her sparse Japanese translated into English
by her husband, Adrian Joffe, who is also president of the Paris-based
Comme des Garçons International. Mostly black and with Japanese tomboy
airs, the H&M collection includes a range of tailored jackets, many
deconstructed, along with cropped pants, baggy shorts and a variety of
skirts in stretch wool. On the perkier side are polkadot knits in
jersey or merino wool, colorful shirts?some with dots?and a ?showpiece?
coatdress decorated here and there with dense Victorian ruffles. There
are also accessories and a unisex perfume with notes of cedar and
patchouli but, alas, no children?s wear, which H&M had promised
when it announced the partnership this past April. ?We wanted something
for kids, but she didn?t feel like it, so we didn?t,? is how H&M?s
Margareta van den Bosch bluntly explains why that part of the project
fizzled. ?They said no, and we respect that.?
Otherwise, Kawakubo?s vision for H&M was a complete one,
extending to the selling floor, with curved, red walls and custom
fixtures demarcating the designer?s zone as surely as a UFO in a Kansas
cornfield. Seated in Joffe?s bare-bones, glass-walled office, she grabs
a pencil, sketches a circle and then carves it into sections,
explaining that 20 H&M shops in major fashion capitals will get the
whole pie, with less prominent or smaller locations receiving only
certain slices. Kawakubo also exerted tight control over the
advertising, even though her first proposal was scrapped by H&M
because it didn?t show any clothes. (This is typical in her world,
where ads for the Comme des Garçons Shirt collection might show toy
robots or dogs on a bench?all images purchased from under-the-radar
artists.)
Given Kawakubo?s fearless, avant-garde approach to design and
business, her tie-up with H&M was bound to produce more bristling
than the retailer?s previous joint-label ventures with Roberto Cavalli,
Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfeld. ?What?s interesting about
collaborations is the possibility for one plus one to equal three,?
Kawakubo says, warming up to the topic. ?It?s interesting for me to
sell Comme des Garçons in places it?s never been sold before, to people
who might not have heard of Comme des Garçons.? Not that she ever
approaches such a project as a brainstorming or a meeting of the minds.
It?s more the case of a willful designer making a strong proposition
with a partner who brings something new to the table, like production
know-how or distribution muscle. A recent example is the elite Fastskin
LZR Racer swimsuit for Speedo, for which Comme des Garçons created
graphics while Speedo crafted the suits, billed as the fastest ever;
this claim proved controversial. ?For me there?s no compromise,?the
designer says. ?I do what I want, and they do whatever I couldn?t do
myself.?
Kawakubo is a consummate fashion indie, designing collections and
running her business on her own terms since she launched her label in
Tokyo in 1969. If she wants blistering punk rock or no music at all at
her fashion show, or if she feels like showing skirts and no tops one
season, so be it. She always begins with the concept, with little
regard for the commercial consequences. (And incidentally, her infamous
pillow collection that distorted various body parts with assorted lumps
and bumps ?wasn?t a best-seller, no,? she concedes.) ?Our business is
creation,? she says, now fidgeting with a pair of black sunglasses. ?I
couldn?t begin to do anything if the first thing I thought about was
the selling of it.? Kawakubo allows that Play Comme des Garçons, a line
of T-shirts, polos and cardigans that she introduced in 2002, is very
commercial, yet ?the starting point was not to sell a lot of it. The
starting point of this concept of Play was that it?s not designed?even
that was a concept.?
At its headquarters in Stockholm, H&M starts each business day
with a much different set of priorities, given that the retail giant
operates more than 1,500 stores?stocked with 100 percent lump-free
clothes?in 29 countries. Yet its customers will get a taste of
deconstruction come November. Van den Bosch, an H&M consultant who
helmed the design department for 30 years and masterminded its designer
projects, is a longtime fan of Kawakubo, lauding her ?unisex attitude
toward fashion? and her ?mix between elegant and quite sporty? clothes.
Not coincidentally, the Kawakubo collection will arrive in stores just
as H&M plants its first outlets in Japan: one in Ginza, another in
hypertrendy Harajuku and a third coming next year in Shibuya. ?She?s
really respected by people in Japan,? says van den Bosch, a woman of
few words with a penchant for dark clothing, much like Kawakubo.
?They?ll be really happy about this collaboration.? For the rest of the
world, Rei Kawakubo and Comme des Garçons are hardly household names,
but neither were Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren of Viktor & Rolf,
guest designers for H&M?s 2006 holiday promotion. ?It makes our
brand stronger by doing surprising things and different things, and we
also get different customers in the shop,? van den Bosch says. As for
the clothing, regardless of a few exposed seams and some boiled wool,
?it?s not difficult in itself for our customers,? she says. ?The
collection looks really great.?
Kawakubo says she didn?t water down her designs for the mass market,
but she does acknowledge that ?it?s an attempt to sell to the wider
public.? Musing on the strength of fast-fashion chains today, which
compete with designer brands, she says: ?I think they have their
rightful place in the world. Not everyone necessarily needs new things
all the time and creative designs. It?s good to have luxury restaurants
and fast-food restaurants. You need both.? Indeed, Kawakubo has checked
out her low-price competition, notably Uniqlo and Gap, although she
hasn?t bought anything from either store. And she can be critical of a
marketing-driven approach to the fashion business. ?Even companies that
start out wanting to sell first are not necessarily successful,? she
notes. ?For me, it?s a long-term process. What doesn?t sell today might
sell tomorrow.?
Certain fast-fashion chains are known to ape runway looks and steal
designers? ideas, but on this point Kawakubo is as calm as a lake. She
harbors no anger toward such pilferers and insists they?ve never
knocked her off ?perhaps with good reason. ?It?s strange that they
would copy Comme des Garçons clothes,? she pronounces without even a
hint of a smile. ?They don?t sell that well."
Haha, OK, jokes aside. This looks better than I thought it would.
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