Comme des Garçons Redefines What It Means to Dress with Power
Fashion has long been used as a means of expressing individuality, status, and identity. Power dressing, a concept popularized in the 1980s, traditionally conjures images of sharp-shouldered suits, neutral palettes, and sartorial confidence chiseled into conservative silhouettes. Comme Des Garcons But when Rei Kawakubo, the elusive mastermind behind Comme des Garçons, entered the global stage, she tore that concept apart. Over decades, Comme des Garçons has steadily dismantled traditional notions of authority and elegance. With every unconventional drape, every frayed edge, and every garment that seems to defy wearability, the brand has asked: what truly makes someone powerful?
Power Beyond the Suit: A New Visual Vocabulary
In the lexicon of traditional power dressing, strength has often equated to masculinity. Think of the padded shoulders of the 1980s corporate woman — meant to echo the male executive. Kawakubo rejected that narrative outright. Comme des Garçons never played by the rules of androgyny by simply placing women in men’s clothes. Instead, the brand created entirely new forms — architectural, sometimes alien, often unsettling.
To wear Comme des Garçons is not to assimilate into a structure, but to rebel against it. That is a new kind of power: not the ability to blend in with authority but to challenge its very aesthetics. Kawakubo’s collections often feature voluminous silhouettes that obscure the body, obscuring traditional gender markers. These shapes resist the male gaze, confronting viewers with garments that don’t just clothe the body but question the need to frame it within societal expectations.
The Body as Concept, Not Commodity
One of the most radical aspects of Comme des Garçons is how it redefines the relationship between clothing and the body. In most of fashion, the body is something to be highlighted, idealized, or sexualized. But for Kawakubo, the body is not a canvas — it’s an idea. Clothing doesn’t need to flatter, enhance, or reveal. Instead, it can distort, mask, or even confuse.
This defiance is power in its purest form. There’s strength in refusing to make oneself palatable, in choosing mystery over exposure, discomfort over allure. This approach flips the script on what we have traditionally seen as “strong” or “feminine” dressing. Kawakubo doesn’t just propose new shapes; she proposes new values. In her world, intellectualism trumps sex appeal, and ambiguity is a virtue.
Conceptual Fashion as Rebellion
Comme des Garçons is often described as “anti-fashion” — a term Kawakubo herself has embraced at times, though not always comfortably. Her collections are deeply conceptual, often abstract, and frequently challenging. This is fashion as philosophy, where garments speak about society, politics, mortality, and beauty — and not always gently.
Take the Spring/Summer 2014 collection, for example, where models walked in dark, funeral-like ensembles, heads cloaked in veils. There was no music. Only the sound of footsteps echoed through the venue. It was a meditation on death — not just literal mortality, but the death of old systems, outdated ideals, and conformist beauty. Other seasons have tackled themes like brokenness, duality, and imperfection. Each time, the garments carry messages more complex than most runway fare, pushing the audience to think rather than consume.
In this sense, power is no longer about polish or prestige — it’s about provocation. Comme des Garçons empowers its wearers and viewers not with answers but with questions. What does it mean to be beautiful? To be seen? To be dressed?
Dressing with Discomfort: The Power of Unease
One of the most powerful aspects of Kawakubo’s work is her willingness to embrace discomfort — both physical and psychological. Her garments often feature protrusions, padding, and asymmetries that can appear bizarre or grotesque. The instinctive response for many viewers is unease, even confusion. And that’s the point.
In mainstream fashion, discomfort is to be avoided — the itch of a fabric or the odd twist of a hemline is a flaw. But in Kawakubo’s world, discomfort is part of the conversation. It’s a tool to disrupt complacency, to draw attention, and to force engagement. The wearer is never just wearing the clothes — they’re embodying a statement.
This type of engagement demands confidence, which is perhaps the most traditional element of power dressing that Kawakubo retains. Her clothes are not for the passive. They require commitment, boldness, and a willingness to be misunderstood. In return, they offer an identity that can’t be easily boxed in — one rooted in thought, not trend.
Deconstructing Gender, Hierarchy, and Meaning
Comme des Garçons also confronts and deconstructs ideas of hierarchy — not just within gender, but within fashion itself. Garments made from distressed materials or unfinished seams question the distinction between “luxury” and “low.” There’s a rawness in many of her collections that upends the notion that wealth or power must come with perfection.
Gender is similarly dismantled. Many of her collections are neither overtly masculine nor feminine. Others blur boundaries so thoroughly that gender becomes irrelevant. It’s a far cry from the pant-suit feminism of past decades. Instead of suggesting that women must look like men to be taken seriously, Kawakubo proposes that we erase the lines altogether.
Even the concept of “wearability” is challenged. Some pieces are so sculptural they seem impossible to move in. But that’s the point. Not all fashion is meant for comfort or function. Some is meant for confrontation, reflection, or even confusion. In doing so, Kawakubo teaches us that power doesn’t have to be practical — sometimes, it’s purely conceptual.
The Legacy of Rei Kawakubo’s Vision
Rei Kawakubo has not only redefined what it means to dress with power — she has redefined what power itself can look like. It is no longer about control, conformity, or command. In the world of Comme des Garçons, power comes from vulnerability, ambiguity, and rebellion. It comes from being misunderstood and unapologetic. It comes from the refusal to be seen in the way others expect.
That is why her legacy looms so large over the fashion world, even though she rarely speaks publicly or seeks the spotlight. Designers from Martin Margiela to Rick Owens have been influenced by her radical vision. And countless wearers — from avant-garde enthusiasts to pop icons like Rihanna — have found liberation in her garments.
Dressing with power, according to Comme des Garçons, is not about commanding a room with glamour or status. It’s about entering it on your own terms — even if those terms are unrecognizable to others. It’s about choosing thought over display, mystery over conformity, and courage over beauty.
Conclusion: The Future of Power Dressing
As the fashion world continues to evolve, the question of what it means to dress with power remains more relevant than ever. Comme Des Garcons Hoodie In a culture increasingly defined by image and instant recognition, Kawakubo’s vision feels radical, even subversive. She reminds us that real strength comes not from being seen, but from being true.
In a world that pressures people — especially women — to dress for approval, status, or seduction, Comme des Garçons offers another path. It is a path of questions rather than answers, concepts rather than categories. It is not always comfortable, and it is rarely easy. But it is deeply, defiantly powerful.