The final countdown for the Met Gala begins as designers and attendees are in preparation for the long awaited red carpet benefit. Japanese designer, Rei Kawakubo will be the first living designer since 1983 to be the sole subject of this year's annual Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute's fashion exhibit.
The Japanese label Comme des Garçons translates to the French line "like some boys". The theatrical designs present an avant-garde approach to fashion. Past Kawakubo runway highlights include the 2001 Spring collection's use of camouflage, bubble wrap and packing tape and the carnival-inspired 1994 Spring collection called “Kaleidoscope".
Challenging the conventional, the Spring 2017 ready-to-wear show resembled a sculpture exhibit rather than a runway. With the inspiration behind the collection left for interpretation, Kawakubo created wearable 3-dimensional structures with overwhelming capes, oversized collars and ornamental headdresses.