This week, we paid a visit to the Rei Kawakubo/ Comme des Garçons exhibit, featured at the Met. The exhibit, called Art of the In-between, examines nine expressions of “in-betweenness” in Kawakubo’s collections. The first expression, called Absence/ Presence, is meant to open the exhibit by showcasing Kawakubo’s fascination of blurring the boundaries between body and dress. The next exhibit that caught my eye was the Model/ Multiple expression, which featured garments from her S/S 2004 line. When this collection was featured on the runway, it was a collection of 34 skirts, no other garments (which means no tops). Instead of the silver tops on the mannequins on display here, the runway tops were made out of stocking fabric, and their only purpose was to veil the breasts from complete nudity. When commenting on the show, Kawakubo says she was “"designing from shapeless, abstract, intangible forms, not taking into account the body.” This collection specifically was meant to represent the “unstable connection between unique artwork and mass-produced commodity,” which is how the Met Gala described it.
The next segment of clothes takes inspiration from the Kawakubo quote “There’s value in bad taste.” It features garments that reflect the relationship between elite and popular culture, combining unlikely styles, such as ballerina tutus and motorbike jackets. The piece that caught my eye was the dress made of white nylon tulle with black elastic trim. The textiles used to create this piece are thought to be cheap, kitschy, and vulgar, such as nylon and polyester, which is interesting because the garment was designed using methods not usually seen with these fabrics. When put together, these punk and fetish styles, Kawakubo managed to convert perceived concepts of good taste and she exposes fundamental bias and bourgeois portrayals in the precincts of elite culture.
