The new theme of 2017 Costume Institute exhibition and gala will be Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons it was confirmed this morning. This will be the first monograph show that exhibits living designer since 1983’s Yves Saint Laurent. The announcement confirms rumors first reported by WWD in August this year.
The 2017 Met Gala will take place on Monday, May 1 and will be co-chaired by Katy Perry and Pharrell Williams and sponsored by Apple, Condé Nast, Farfetch, H&M, and Maison Valentino. The exhibition will showcase about 120 Comme des Garçons womenswear designs from it’s first runway collection in 1981, all the way to the most recent shows. The mannequins will be placed at eye-level without any glass or other physical barriers between them and the viewer, unlike prior Costume Institute shows.
Rei Kawakubo is one of the most important and influential designers of the past 40 years. By inviting us to rethink fashion as a site of constant creation, recreation and hybridity, she has defined the aesthetics of our time. – Andrew Bolton, Curator of the Costume Institute
Images COMME des GARCONS 2013 Spring/Summer
