Met Gala 2017 honors Rei Kawakubo, designer of Comme des Garçons

Color, creativity and sensuality came together on Monday, May 1^st at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York during the Met GALA, being the protagonist of this year Rei Kawakubo, the brain behind the designs of Comme des Garçons.

And why Rei? Because she is one of the most influential and avant-garde creators of recent years through her games with volume, architectural designs and her ability to challenge conventional notions of beauty, good taste and fashion.

Born in Tokyo in 1942, she graduated in Philosophy and Letters at Keio University. Her first foray into fashion came in 1967, when she started working as a freelance stylist at a Japanese textile company and also created her own clothes. In 1969, she founded her firm Comme des Garçons.

As is happens with every sensitive creator, Kawakubo creates a world where deconstruction, surrealism and anti-fashion have defined the aesthetics of our time. Nowadays, she invoices 280 million dollars and has 12 product lines. She is responsible of the Avant-garde fashion temple and design, the store Dover Street Market, a 6-floors building in one of the most luxurious neighborhoods of London: Mayfair.

She is one of those artists who prefers to talk through her collections, with that creative energy flowing from a conceptual and artistic perspective. Her influential trajectory situates her at an intermediate point between the stark reality and everyday life, where fashion is work and what matters is the result.

“You do not need to talk to me.
Just look at the clothes. What I want to say is there, “she says.

The exhibition organized by the MET, is open to the public from May 4^th to September 4^th where we can explore 140 models from all her work that is exposed without cabinet in the aforementioned gala and serves as opening party of this spectacular retrospective, dating from the early 80s to her most recent collection. Most wigs have been created and designed by Julien d’Ys.

Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garcons: “Art of the in-between”
will be the publication that reviews the nearly 50 years of fashion, avant-garde and the acclaimed designer’s art.

Met Gala aims to raise funds for the Costume Institute in New York, the only department that finances for itself. For 18 years, since the Director of Vogue USA, Anna Wintour, took charge of the organization, the event has become one of the most anticipated and most important moments of the fashion industry.

This year Katy Perry and Pharrel Williams have been the hosts of this highly anticipated event.

The red carpet started at 19:00 pm and 600 people were invited who paid between 25,000 and 30,000 dollars per entry except the “celebrities” who are usually invited.

We review some of the firms present on the Red Carpet the Met Gala.

In this year, Rihanna, Madonna, Kate Perry, Jennifer Lopez, Blake Lilvey, Celine Dion and a long list of models and prominent figures of the cinema world walked down the red carpet at the MET to honor Kawakubo and her particular universe.

Sensual and daring. Among the looks that stood out in the red carpet of the Gala, we can include Gigi Hadid’s Tommy Hilfiger dress, the Versace dress with gold chains and blue feathers worn by the actress Blake Lively or the black and white jumpsuit with lateral tail by Carolina Herrera of Emmy Rossum.

 

Discreet and elegant, Jennifer Lopez appeared with a floaty Valentino dress.

In contrast, we can include Rihanna’s extravagant and voluptuous dress, who faithful to the topic, decided to wear a Commes des Garcons design, the same choice of Helen Lasichanh, Pharrell William’s wife.

This year, certainly, the red carpet has been a show of creativity and design thanks to the host Anna Wintour who each year exceeds the limits of her guests’ imagination.

Translated by: Raquel Sanchez