Cover The extreme utilitarian lines of chairs created by Rei Kawakubo (Photo: Instagram/@commedesgarcons)
The extreme utilitarian lines of chairs created by Rei Kawakubo (Photo: Instagram/@commedesgarcons)
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Japanese fashion house revisits its experimental furniture design chapter
At the intersection of fashion and furniture design, few pieces capture the avant-garde spirit of Comme des Garçons quite like Rei Kawakubo’s chair collection from the early 1980s. Now, after decades of existing primarily in the realm of collectors and design archives, these distinctive seats are being reissued for a new generation of design enthusiasts.
The chairs first appeared in Comme des Garçons stores four decades ago. Their angular forms and unconventional proportions reflected Kawakubo’s design principles, which were reshaping fashion at the time. The collection emerged during a period when Japanese designers were gaining prominence in Paris, challenging Western fashion conventions.
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Above No 1 chair (Photo: Instagram/@commedesgarcons)
Above The special version for this chair has a wooden seat (Photo: Instagram/@commedesgarcons)
No 1 chair (Photo: Instagram/@commedesgarcons)
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The original chairs served dual purposes as store fixtures and retail items. They appeared in Comme des Garçons retail spaces worldwide, though a few went into private hands.
Their design merged industrial materials with stark geometries, creating pieces that functioned both as seating and as three-dimensional expressions of the brand’s aesthetic.
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Above The chair naturally comes in black (Photo: Instagram/@commedesgarcons) )
Above Red is another signature colour of the brand (Photo: Instagram/@commedesgarcons)
The chair naturally comes in black (Photo: Instagram/@commedesgarcons) )
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Now, as interest in 1980s design resurges, Comme des Garçons has decided to reintroduce these pieces. The reissued chairs maintain the original materials and proportions while utilising current manufacturing methods. The timing coincides with renewed attention to Japanese design from that era, documenting a moment when fashion houses began exploring beyond their traditional boundaries.
The chairs will be available through Comme des Garçons’ retail network, the same channels where they were first introduced forty years ago.
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Jennifer Choo is Regional Managing Editor of Tatler Homes, covering architecture, interior design, and art across Asia. Based in Malaysia, she oversees regional content on luxury residential design and contemporary art collections. Legally trained but choosing to pursue her passion for design, she previously led notable design publications and worked as an interior stylist and art consultant for property developers, design firms, and private clients.
