--- description: Rei Kawakubo, the mysterious designer behind avant garde fashion brand Commes des Garcons, is the inspiration behind this year's Met Gala. title: 7 Things You Need to Know About Designer Rei Kawakubo image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40ee0c7024ff5ab7/6988caf8656a3f80dfbcfbea/rei-kawakubo-met-gala-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 7 Things You Need to Know About the Fashion Designer Who Inspired the 2017 Met Gala, Rei Kawakubo  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2017 6:24 PM CUT  PARIS, FRANCE - JANUARY 18: Rei Kawakubo after the Balenciaga show at Place Vendome on January 18, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Melodie Jeng/Getty Images) PARIS, FRANCE - JANUARY 18: Rei Kawakubo after the Balenciaga show at Place Vendome on January 18, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Melodie Jeng/Getty Images)Melodie Jeng—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2017 6:24 PM CUT The inspiration for this [year’s annual Met Gala (often referred to as “the biggest night in fashion”](http://time.com/4316173/met-gala-ball-2016-best-memes/ "undefined")) and Costume Institute exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is [iconoclastic designer Rei Kawakubo](http://time.com/4540904/comme-des-garcons-rei-kawakubo-met-gala-theme-2017/ "undefined"), the 74-year-old mastermind behind the clothing line Comme des Garçons. If you’re not familiar with who Rei is, that’s exactly what she would want — the mysterious designer is known for her extreme privacy, preferring to stay aloof and as much out of the public eye as possible as opposed to swanning with fashion’s elite. As much as Rei would prefer to stay out of the spotlight, however, she can’t stop the success of her design work, which has earned her a cult following. Her highly conceptual collections have been hailed by critics in all fields, garnering labels running the gamut from radical to political. Her vision and range has inspired everyone from industry vets like [Karl Lagerfeld](http://time.com/4683081/meryl-streep-karl-lagerfeld-chanel-oscars-dress/ "undefined") and Dries Van Noten to rapper and [aspiring fashion designer Kanye West](http://time.com/4671139/halima-aden-hijab-yeezy-show-nyfw/ "undefined"), which is why it should come as no surprise that she’s the first designer to be honored as the subject of a show while still alive [since Yves Saint Laurent was featured in 1983](http://www.vogue.com/article/met-gala-2017-theme-rei-kawakubo-comme-des-garcons "undefined"). Ahead of the Met Gala (which Rei told [_Vogue_](http://www.vogue.com/article/rei-kawakubo-interview-comme-des-garcons-2017-met-museum-costume-exhibit "undefined") is “a Met show for Comme des Garçons, not a Comme des Garçons show at the Met”) next Monday, here are 7 things you should know about Rei Kawakubo, as well as a look back at her most eye-catching designs over the years. **She’s been in the fashion business for almost 50 years**: Despite not having any formal fashion training (she opted to study art and literature,) and armed with experience in a textiles factory and freelance styling work, Rei created her own clothing line named Comme des Garçons in 1969, which became incorporated in 1973\. According to [_ELLE_](http://www.elle.com/fashion/a33802/rei-kawakubo-interview/ "undefined")_,_ the moniker came from a Françoise Hardy song lyric that roughly translated to “like the boys.” In the years since she founded the label, it’s expanded to include a men’s line, Homme Comme des Garçons plus several other individual lines. She’s also created a line of stores called Dover Street Market, which carry Commes des Garçons as well as a carefully curated selection of other designers. **She’s credited with “inventing black” and her aesthetic is entirely her own**: Rei’s aesthetic has been lauded and reviled by turn in the fashion industry for its distinctive and unconventional look. Her early work was marked by casual cuts and lots of black — so much black, in fact, that the Harvard Graduate School of Design offered the rationale that “[Rei invented black as a color](http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2000/5/12/making-friends-pfont-faceverdana-arialhelveticabfashion-people/ "undefined")” when honoring her with an Excellence in Design award in 2000\. Her later work evolved to conceptual and abstract designs less suited for the rigors of daily life and more as a testament to structural feats — pieces marked by the use of wool felt and metal wiring, gargantuan proportions, and intentional wear and tear. **Her legion success doesn’t appear all that commercially motivated**: Rei doesn’t seem concerned with the success of her collections or with receiving affirmation on her design work, going so far as to tell [_ELLE_](http://www.elle.com/fashion/a33802/rei-kawakubo-interview/ "undefined") that she every time before a collection, she tells herself, “I don’t want it to come out. I want to cancel it. It’s not good. I haven’t achieved anything.” **She’s helped mentor a new generation of fashion designers**: While most of fashion’s biggest names have cut their teeth at the atelier of an established designer, Rei has helped to foster some of the most exciting young talent being recognized today. Her most visible and successful protégé to date is Junya Watanabe, who began as a patternmaker and was subsequently given his own label by Rei in 1992\. According to [_Business of Fashion_](https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/people/the-children-of-comme "undefined"), Rei will often offer those who have worked under her their own lines, separate but within the Comme des Garçons world. Watanabe’s eponymous line is under the Comme des Garçon’s name, as are other offspring of Rei’s house, like Ganryu’s Fumito Ganryu and Noir by Kei Nomiya’s Kei Ninomiya. Others have learned and grown under Rei’s lead, but left the world of Comme des Garçons to create their own companies, like the husband and wife duo of Chitose Abe and Junichi Abe, who helm Sacai and Kolor respectively. **She has a posse of loyal celebrity followers**: Rei’s highly conceptual and at times, bizarre designs haven’t scared away fans; in fact, she’s a favorite of celebrity clotheshorses like Kanye West, Pharrell, Lady Gaga, Russell Westbrook, and A$AP Rocky. Her number one fan, however, is entertainment legend and camp champion John Waters, who referred to Rei as his “god” in his book [_Role Models_](http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/04/john-waters-on-his-rei-kawakubo-obsession.html "undefined"). In the text, Waters also wrote that “Comme des Garçons (like some boys) is my favorite line of clothing, designed by the genius fashion dictator Rei Kawakubo.” In addition to being Comme des Garçons’ biggest cheerleader, Waters has walked the runway for Rei and is so friendly with the designer that he accepted a CFDA award on her behalf. > [](https://twitter.com/marcjacobs/status/209811085610582016) **She’s notoriously private and rarely gives interviews**: While many designers are the face of their labels (Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld or Alexander Wang and his eponymous label come to mind,) Rei has remained infamously private during her time as a designer, skirting public events and media outlets and handing out the rare interview sparingly. According to a profile of her from the[ _New Yorker_](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/07/04/the-misfit-3 "undefined"), Rei values staying out of the public eye so much that she has stopped taking the traditional bow at the end of her runway shows. **Even her marriage skews towards the unconventional**: Rei is married to Adrian Joffe, a South African linguist fluent in seveal languages including Japanese, who acts as the president of Comme des Garçons and Dover Street Market. According to a [_New Yorker_](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/07/04/the-misfit-3 "undefined")profile about Rei, Joffe often acts as her interpreter and media liaison. The same profile also notes that Joffe and Rei live separately, with him taking residence in Paris and her living in Tokyo; however, according to Joffe, they see each other about once a month and in between producing the fashion collections, they take vacations to locales like Yemen or Romania.  Commes des Garçons, Spring/Summer 1992 Daniel SIMON—Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images  PARIS - OCTOBER 02: (UK OUT) A model walks down the catwalk during the Comme Des Garcons Fashion Show as part of Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2007 on October 2, 2006 in Paris, France. (Photo by Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images) Chris Moore/Catwalking—Getty Images  PARIS - FEBRUARY 27: (UK OUT) A model walks the catwalk during the Comme Des Garcons fashion show as part of Paris Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2008 on February 27, 2007 in Paris, France. (Photo by Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images) Chris Moore/Catwalking—Getty Images  PARIS - OCTOBER 02: Models walk the runway at the Comme Des Garcons fashion show during Paris Fashion Week on October 2, 2010 in Paris City. (Photo by Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images) Chris Moore/Catwalking—Getty Images  PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 01: A model walks the runway at the Comme des Garcons Spring Summer 2017 fashion show during Paris Fashion Week on October 1, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Catwalking/Getty Images) Catwalking—Getty Images  PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 05: A model walks the runway at the Comme Des Garcons Autumn Winter 2016 fashion show during Paris Fashion Week on March 5, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Catwalking/Getty Images) Catwalking—Getty Images  PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 03: A model walks the runway at the Comme Des Garcons Spring Summer 2016 fashion show during Paris Fashion Week on October 3, 2015 in Paris, France. (Photo by Catwalking/Getty Images) Catwalking—Getty Images  PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 04: A model walks the runway at the Commes Des Garcons Autumn Winter 2017 fashion show during Paris Fashion Week on March 4, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Catwalking/Getty Images) Catwalking—Getty Images  PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 01: A model walks the runway at the Comme Des Garcons Spring Summer 2012 fashion show during Paris Fashion Week on October 1, 2011 in Paris, France. (Photo by Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images) Chris Moore/Catwalking—Getty Images  PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 28: A model walks the runway at the Comme des Garcons Spring Summer 2014 fashion show during Paris Fashion Week on September 28, 2013 in Paris, France. 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