Member-only story
The Best of Japanese Clothing Brands
While Japanese culture has inspired fashion for centuries, the country has carved out a reputation for diverse styles and daring looks that combine clean, modern shapes, cartoonish colours and vintage influences. Japanese clothing brands are renowned for quality and craftsmanship and in the past few years have been making a mark in the fashion world. Here are our 10 best Japanese fashion brands to know.
Comme des Garçons
Commes des Garçons is a heavyweight among the Japanese clothing brands. It’s headed by the iconic Rei Kawakubo who started the company in 1969 (and is also the founder of London’s Dover Street Market). She was referenced by Alexander McQueen and Viktor and Rolf as a defining influence in their careers, too.
With the designer’s use of dark colours, raw finishes and punk influence, Kawakubo and her contemporaries became known as “The Crows” of Japanese fashion. The brand challenged beauty ideals and fashion norms in the eighties, fusing masculine tailoring with feminine corsetry. Nowadays, the Comme des Garçons Play logo — a heart with eyes — is instantly recognisable and pops up in collaborations with other clothing brands like Converse and H&M.
