Blue Of Ham

Fashion Trends COMME des GARÇONS Did First

Androgyny

There were few fashion brands as revered and referenced as COMME des GARÇONS in the ‘90s, and always ahead of its time, the brand presented a new sartorial agenda of “gender bending androgyny” for its Spring/Summer 1995 show. In recent seasons, the critical narrative around gender and its politics have permeated the fashion industry at large. Binaries have been queered on runways from Paris to New York, from Gucci and Prada to Vetements and Hood By Air.

However, in 1995, COMME des GARÇONS staged a subversive sartorial showcase of new ideas titled “Transcending Gender” with a staunch point of view. “Spiritually, there are no more differences between men and women,” Kawakubo told Vogue post-show. “What is important is being human.”

At the height of the glam ‘90s fashion, this was a bold and brave move for COMME des GARÇONS. Kawakubo used tailoring to conceptually deconstruct gender, to reveal not just the beautiful bones of fashion, but also our bodies – stripped of its ideals, stigmas, conventions and rules. Female models were dressed in men’s clothes such as deconstructed suits and ties, but Kawakubo added plenty of frill to the mix, pairing layered ruffle skirts beneath suit jackets, all in an effort to probe the sexual politics of fashion, long before it was #hashtag trending.