PARIS.- On October 1st, during Paris Fashion Week, PIASA will auction one of the world’s most significant collections dedicated to Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo and her cult label Comme des Garçons. The collection was assembled over the past ten years by Japanese collector Hiroaki Narita.

This anthology of more than 500 lots includes pieces dating from 1969 to 1999, drawn from the most iconic collections of the brand, such as Pirates (1981), Noir (1988), Metamorphosis (1994), and Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body (1997), with estimates ranging from €150 to €2,000. Part of the collection will be exhibited from September 26 to 30 at PIASA’s exhibition space on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

Taking its name from the song Tous les garçons et les filles by Françoise Hardy, Comme des Garçons was created by Rei Kawakubo in 1969. After a decade of activity in Japan that positioned her at the pinnacle of the national avant-garde, the brand held its first show in Paris in 1981 and immediately gained international notoriety — although the press was initially mixed in its reception, criticizing the collection’s heavy use of black.

Celebrated in 2017 by a major retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Rei Kawakubo is now a revered figure in fashion, and Comme des Garçons is an empire. Still independent and entirely owned by Rei Kawakubo and her husband Adrian Joffe, the brand has successfully combined haute couture and streetwear by developing cutting-edge lines while multiplying collaborations with mainstream brands, distributed through its network of boutiques and concept stores, including Dover Street Market.