Comme des Garçons Launches New Brand: CDG

Comme des Garçons, regarded as the world’s most avant-garde fashion house, today launches a new brand under its umbrella: CDG. A collection that comprises what founder Rei Kawakubo refers to as “Comme des Garçons’ iconic designs” (namely: T-shirts, trainers, bomber jackets and the like emblazoned with the brand’s logo), arrives with the same, curious appeal that encompasses much of Kawakubo’s ouvre through a series of installations appearing in Comme outposts from London to Beijing. First drop within these spaces: a capsule collection of printed separates entitled Breaking News – “I thought it was a pretty nifty title,” says CEO Adrian Joffe – which will, become a fully-fledged collection sold through Dover Street Market Japan and on the first ever Kawakubo-designed website in July, and rolled out to the rest of world come October.

During a time when fashion merchandise is reaching peak desirability, Comme is clearly aligning itself with the logomaniacal zeitgeist. “We’ve had Good Design Shop for some years now,” continues Joffe, referring to a specific collection sold in the Tokyo-based retailer “and the collaboration between CDG and GDS came to an end, but sales have been amazing recently for the CDG part so we thought: why not simply carry on on our own? So, Good Design Shop became the new CDG brand, with a similar concept of good, iconic design that the Comme des Garçons part of Good Design Store had.”

While on the one end, Comme des Garçons offers spectacular showpieces – enormous, sculptural works that reflect the purest vision of Kawakubo’s creativity – at the other it does remarkable trade in its trainers and T-shirts, which underscore the business’ $300 million annual turnover. The Play logo, a sweet cartoon heart with eyes drawn by Filip Pagowski, has become a ubiquitous symbol across the world; they do a roaring trade through their Nike collaborations; their perfumes combine creative spirit with determinedly commercial appeal. While it would be easy for the brand to nestle within a vaunted corner of the industry, what is perhaps most remarkable about Comme is how it translates its radical approach to design into broad appeal. “With [the core brand] Comme des Garçons I can allow myself to be more free,” explained the notoriously reticent Kawakubo in January, as part of a Vogue feature on her work. “Other brands, other parts of the business, they give me that freedom. The total is the mix between creation and business. I have all these brands to try to get the freedom that each one gives me.”

“Good design is simple design… for the future,” continues Kawakubo in the press release for the launch, and her decision to venture into e-commerce for the first time signals a new approach for the designer. While the Dover Street Market stores have an online presence, she has never before embraced the opportunities e-commerce affords – in fact, she explained that “a lot of people tell me that just going to the shops and seeing the clothes makes them feel good – and you can’t expect to have that feeling from an e-shop, which is why I’m not interested in e-commerce. Whether it’s when people see the fashion shows, or visit the store, I want them to feel something incredible, to feel good and positive.”

Rei “wasn’t a fan as such, it’s true,” continues Joffe. “But she is a fan of doing something she’s never done before, so she finally became intrigued with designing an online shop and the perennial, iconic design concept of the brand lends itself rather well to e-commerce.” In some senses then, this is a newly liberated venture for Kawakubo who will be taking the iconoclastic simplicity of CDG into uncharted digital territory. “It’s the principle of business, not to stay stagnant,” she said. “To grow little by little is the natural process… there’s no choice.” We’ll wait with bated breath to see what a Kawakubo-designed e-store looks like on July 20th; in the meanwhile, Breaking News provides plenty of opportunity to invest in the spirit of CDG.