Ensemble

Designer Rei Kawakubo Japanese

fall/winter 2001–2

Not on view

Part of the "Beyond Taboo" collection, this ensemble by Rei Kawakubo references a brassiere from the 1950s, the period of the bust's most highly eroticized focus. However, Kawakubo cites its least provocative form, the long-line, and she fashions her design in a cotton voided velvet fabric that situates it as outerwear. The long-line was originally intended to provide greater support for women with larger breasts, the ostensible period ideal. But the detailing was more orthopedic than sexy, and Kawakubo stresses this practicality in her version. When she transposes the brassiere to the rear, however, her critique of the sexist equivalence of the cleavage of breasts to that of the buttocks flirts dangerously with a reinvestment of the erotic to the garment.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Exhibition History

Title: Ensemble
Design House: Comme des Garçons (Japanese, founded 1969)
Designer: Rei Kawakubo (Japanese, born 1942)
Date: fall/winter 2001–2
Culture: French
Medium: a) rayon, cotton, plastic; b) rayon, metal; c) cotton, elasticine blend
Credit Line: Gift of Comme des Garçons, 2004
Object Number: 2004.188a–c
Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

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