Which Japanese designer founded Comme des Garçons in Tokyo in 1969?

Rei Kawakubo founded Comme des Garçons in Tokyo in 1969.

Kawakubo established the label as a womenswear company and became known for challenging conventional ideas about beauty, proportion, and construction. Her designs often used asymmetry, unusual silhouettes, distressed surfaces, and predominantly black palettes.

Comme des Garçons expanded internationally during the 1970s and 1980s. Its 1981 Paris debut helped introduce Kawakubo’s radical approach to a wider fashion audience. The label’s name translates roughly as “like boys.”

A common mix-up is to credit Yohji Yamamoto, who was also a major Japanese designer in Paris during the 1980s. Yamamoto and Kawakubo were creative partners for a time, but they founded separate fashion houses.