Avant-garde, unconventional and thoroughly influential, the work of Japanese fashion designer Rei Kawakubo is the subject of this year’s Costume Institute exhibition at the Met Fifth Avenue, Art of the In-Between. Known for her boundary-stretching work, Kawakubo creates haute-couture that has more in common with art than it does apparel. The force behind coveted clothing label Comme des Garçons is only the second living designer to be feted at the museum (the first was Yves Saint Laurent in 1983). The exhibit features 150 outfits, all arranged by collection and theme (Order/Chaos, for example, or—perhaps more to the point—Clothes/Not Clothes). Click through this gallery to see some of our favorites.
Photo: Brittany Petronella
Design/Not Design
Photo: Brittany Petronella
Object/Subject
Photo: Brittany Petronella
Order/Chaos
Photo: Brittany Petronella
Clothes/Not Clothes: Fact/Fiction
Photo: Brittany Petronella
Clothes/Not Clothes: War/Peace
Photo: Brittany Petronella
Clothes/Not Clothes: War/Peace
Photo: Brittany Petronella
Clothes/Not Clothes: Form/Function
Photo: Brittany Petronella
Then/Now: Birth/Marriage/Death
Photo: Brittany Petronella
High/Low: Good Taste/Bad Taste
Photo: Brittany Petronella
Self/Other: East/West
Photo: Brittany Petronella
Self/Other: Child/Adult
Photo: Brittany Petronella
Self/Other: Male/Female