The theme for the biggest event in the fashion calendar has finally been confirmed, after months of speculation. This morning, the Metropolitan Museum of Art revealed that for 2017 the annual Costume Institute exhibition will be focused on Rei Kawakubo, the founder and designer of cult Japanese brand Comme des Garçons.
If you're not familiar with Kawakubo, she's the 74-year-old avant-garde design genius who set up Comme des Garçons in 1981 (now turning over $200 million a year) who has influenced countless designers, from Martin Margiela and Ann Demeulemeester to Helmut Lang and Junya Watanabe. In 2004, Kawakubo opened luxury concept store Dover Street Market in Mayfair, transforming the face of London fashion forever, and retail spaces soon followed in New York and Japan.
Opening on 4th May next year, the eagerly-awaited show will be the first exhibition at the museum to focus solely on a living designer since its Yves Saint Laurent show in 1983, featuring over 100 pieces, from Kawakubo's first collection in Paris to present day. “Rei Kawakubo is one of the most important and influential designers of the past forty years,” explained the Costume Institute curator, Andrew Bolton to Vogue.com. “By inviting us to rethink fashion as a site of constant creation, recreation, and hybridity, she has defined the aesthetics of our time.”
And of course the exhibition will be preceded by a star-studded party, attended by the world's most influential names in fashion and beyond, taking place on the first Monday of May. The Met Ball will be co-chaired by Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams (who launched a fragrance in collaboration with Comme des Garçons in 2014), and Anna Wintour, with Kawakubo acting as honorary chair. Sponsors include Apple, Condé Nast, Farfetch, H&M, and Maison Valentino.
Previous themes for the Met Ball have been 'Punk: Chaos to Couture', 'Fashion in an Age of Technology' and 'China: Through the Looking Glass' – who can forget Rihanna's evening-stealing outfit/ the dress that launched a thousand memes. We can't wait until May to see how all the biggest stars of style interpret the theme and pay homage to the unique vision of fashion legend Rei Kawakubo.
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