Rei Kawakubo is founder of the Japanese label Comme des Garçons. The avant-garde designer boldly mocked the premise that fashion needs to be beautiful and helped foster global awareness for the aesthetics of future Japanese designers. Her brand of anti-fashion has included the legendary “bump” collection, which created a deformed silhouette on runway models; she also imbued one of her fragrances with scents of burnt rubber and nail polish. An iconoclast, Kawakubo is considered a “designer’s designer” for her innovative and fearless convictions.

She studied at Keio University in Tokyo and was a freelance designer before developing the Comme des Garçons label in 1969. The debut of her ready-to-wear women’s collection in 1981, with its street-influenced, dark hues and asymmetrical cuts, perplexed the Western press. Other touches such as unfinished seams, absurdly long sleeves and torn, ripped fabric were viewed as radical at the time. Later, however, they re-emerged in the collections of other designers, affirming the influence of her vision.

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Kawakubo has a long history of collaboration, most notably with Vivienne Westwood and Fred Perry. In 2008, Kawakubo collaborated with H&M to create a one-time collection of apparel, accessories and fragrance for the Swedish fast-fashion chain.