COMME DES GARÇONS Archives

22/
08/
17

When Being an Artist
is Good for Business

Brands of all kinds know only too well that creating a successful product takes massive amounts of time and effort. Then they have to convince people to buy it. But what if brands could build products so remarkable they sold themselves, and because of this, others would clamor sell for them?

Art of the In-Between” at The Met Fifth Avenue, New York

Art of the In-Between” at The Met Fifth Avenue, New York, Exhibition Catalogue

Rei Kawakubo, founder of the unorthodox Japanese fashion brand, Comme des Garçons, has done nothing but that her entire career. For the past forty years, she’s invested unprecedented amounts of time and effort into designing the most extraordinary and unconventional collections the fashion industry has seen. However, as the current exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in New York (Met), Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between, has shown, it’s not only the fashion crowds that have been flocking to the Met’s architecturally-impressive gallery space, but enthusiasts of all kinds. It’s the first exhibition honouring a living designer the Met has ever done. What’s more, it’s featuring a visionary renowned for defying the most fundamental of conventions: “If we say, ‘these are clothes’, it’s all very usual, so we said ‘these are not clothes.’ It sounds like a Zen dialogue, but it is very simple,” says Kawakubo.

Naturally, Comme des Garçons is about more than clothing. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons the brand has captivated people across such varied demographics. One may argue it’s Kawakubo’s philosophy that sets the brand apart and attracts a spectrum of devotees. Or perhaps it’s her inherent need to keep challenging every assumption there is about clothing: “Is it strong or not? That’s the only question. I need to create something new, something unlike anything seen before. If a lot of people praise what I’ve made, it must have been just ordinary,” asserts Kawakubo.

Despite its edgy, artistic status, Comme des Garçons has become one of the most desirable brands for fashion retailers to carry. The brand is a draw for design-conscious locals and tourists alike; a worthwhile stop to check out Comme des Garçons’ greatest and latest. For a retailer, carrying Comme des Garçons is often seen as an honour that must be earned. That’s the power of a brand that has built products so exceptional, others consider it a privilege to sell them.

Now, imagine if more companies, not just fashion brands followed Kawakubo’s enterprising steps and developed products that were at least slightly ahead of the curve? For a number of brands, collaborating with cutting edge designers or artists would be an easy first step in challenging their own status quo, and ultimately capturing a creative edge the marketplace is eagerly waiting for.

The exhibition, Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons Art of the In-Between, runs at the Met until September 4, 2017. It features about 140 examples of Kawakubo’s womenswear for Comme des Garçons from 1980’s to present. It also includes one of Kawakubo’s dearest, her art collaboration with the American avant-garde dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham, titled Scenario.

16/
05/
17

The Top 3
Art Collaboration Myths

Even though the marketplace is as saturated as ever and marketing budgets have been shrinking regularly, relatively few Canadian brands have taken advantage of the bountiful opportunities art collaborations provide, despite their success globally. At Arts & Labour, we’ve been talking to brand managers and have uncovered a few obstacles that seem to come up time and again when making the decision whether or not to collaborate with an artist on their product. What we’ve discovered is not that Canadian brands have a different set of concerns than international brands who are more willing to embrace the approach – instead, we found their top concerns were often based on lack of exposure to art collaborations and even more often, out and out myths. Naturally, we’d to take the opportunity to discuss those. Here are the top three.

Frank Gehry’s Crosscheck series of Bentwood furniture for Knoll

Myth No. 1: Art collaborations are costly.
Just as Frank Gehry, the celebrated Canadian architect once said, “You can do great architecture for the same cost as crappy buildings,” collaborating with an artist is not about having deep pockets, it’s about having vision.

To illustrate Gehry’s theory, consider that manufacturing a limited-edition run of art-inspired watering cans designed by a buzz-worthy artist will most likely cost the same as manufacturing a series of conventional watering cans. But as you can imagine, the social media leverage and resulting sales would be far from similar.

Keeping costs manageable comes down to conceiving the right art collaboration idea to achieve the most beneficial effect within brand’s given budget and requirements. Just as Mr. Gehry advises working with the right architect for a building, we’d recommend working with the right creative director for an art collaboration. In both cases, you’re hiring a creative professional who is capable of guiding one through the complexities of the process from start to finish effectively, successfully and fiscally responsibly.

Myth No. 2: Art collaborations are gamble.
For many brands who are accustomed to using marketing to stimulate sales, collaborating with an artist seems too filled with unknowns to provide a reliable return on investment.

What they may not realize is that developing an effective art collaboration, like all good business, is based on a solid strategy that’s followed through with great ideas and strong execution. Using ourselves as an example, Arts & Labour looks to art collaboration successes worldwide as a guide and employs proven techniques to achieve a great result; we use what we call “modules” to break down the process and help guide brand managers and product designers. While our tactical modules help uncover a brand’s needs and wants, our creative modules help define a collaborative strategy to inject a product with the most inherent newsworthiness and appeal. With the right process, creativity does not have to equate to risk.

Myth No. 3: Art collaborations are for luxury brands only.
Perhaps it’s because the most celebrated and memorable art collaborations of late have come from luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Comme des Garcons, but many brands assume the approach is too avant-garde for them, or even “out of their league.”

illy art cup collection x Gillo Dorfless

Nonsense. Developing an art collaboration is an essential way for brands of all kinds to ensure consumers see their product with fresh eyes. For instance, Illy, the Italian coffee company, uses art collaboration as a way to help them de-commodify their offering. Whether it’s a coffee cup, a can of beans or a trade booth, Illy is a brand that takes full advantage of collaborating with artists as a way to stay relevant, top of mind and most of all, inspiring.

As Rachel Somers Miles wrote in her Huffington Post article called “Collaboration Validation,” “Focusing on culture, by developing brand-artist collaborations, is a way of building authentic relationships with audiences that may be hard to connect with. Brands need to work with artists, whose relationships with consumers come from consumers’ genuine excitement.” Indeed.

We wish you plenty of courage to crush each obstacle that stands between your brand and your next art-fusion collaboration.

14/
04/
15

Do limited editions create limitless desire?

It’s not a secret that over the last decade, the popularity of art-fusion collaborations has grown dramatically. While the most talked-about collaborations seem to come and go in a flash of white-hot attention, the less successful ones linger behind in social-media silence, in hopes of one day selling out.

One decision a brand embarking on an art-fusion collaboration must face is whether to make their product plentiful and part of their regular line, or to conceive it as a capsule collection (AKA, limited edition). Is the potential for higher demand worth sacrificing the potential of moving a higher volume of product?

Let’s look at some examples.
In Comme des Garçons’ multiple collaborations with New York fashion brand, Supreme, the brands chose to create capsule collections. They also chose to make consumers jump through quite a few hoops in order to even become eligible to make their ‘must-have’ purchase. The pre-requisite for each Comme des Garçons x Supreme collaboration is that every online shopper must first apply to buy. Second, the keen online shopper must then wait until his or her name is chosen and pre-qualified for an online purchase. Last, only on the day the collection launches, the selected shopper is notified by email about his or her eligibility to order online while the limited quantities last.

While this may sound discouraging to many consumers, it’s important to recognize that to these brands’ target consumer, it is irresistible.

Let’s look at the other side of the coin.
H&M engages regularly in collaborations – with Martin Margiela, Isabel Marant and Lanvin, to name a few. Usually, on the day the launch, H&M packs its selected worldwide locations with immense amounts of the collection, creating a sense of plenty rather than scarcity. If the collection doesn’t sell extremely well in the first few days, the unsold pieces from the collection often remain scattered across the stores, while many of the sold pieces quickly make their way to eBay resellers.

If eBay can be considered a value indicator, then CDG x Supreme pieces clearly outmuscle the H&M collaborations. Not only by their outstanding resale value, but also by their distinctive promise that the collection will be worn only by a limited number of people on the streets, bringing prestige not only to the brands themselves, but also to their highly sophisticated customers.

So do the benefits of a capsule collection outweigh their smaller profit potential you ask? If art-fusion collaborations are about infusing newness and relevance while consequently increasing desire and reducing need to sell, then ‘less is more’ is the preferable formula. Consider it an investment in brand equity. Even for brands with deep pockets, doing highly selective and perhaps less frequent capsule collections can bring a higher return on their investment in the long run. Building a reputation for creating irresistible art-fusion collaborations that come in small numbers accompanied by high-demand is a dream more brands will eventually find worth pursuing.

In our next post, we’ll take a closer look into the disappearance of store displays and mannequins. See you then.

Neil Young Supreme Poster

Supreme x Undercover

Chloë Sevigny for Supreme x Comme des Garçons

Supreme x Comme des Garçons

Supreme x comme des garçons

H&M x Maison Martin Margiela

H&M x Isabel Marant

17/
06/
14

Highbrow Brands x Lowbrow Art

Comme des Garçons does it. Louis Vuitton does it. Even Hermès does it. They are among the handful of highly progressive fashion houses that have fused their highbrow brands with lowbrow street art by collaborating with avant-garde and sought-after national and international graffiti artists to help them disguise the luxury they’ve become known for. Why, you ask?

With the increasing popularity of online shopping, retail stores have more than ever become venues for experiences rather than just buying goods. While many high-end brands have been selling their sophisticated collections in equally high-end boutiques, the more avant-garde brands have been pushing the boundaries much further. By disguising and transforming retail spaces into art spaces with interchangeable street or store installations, such brands are able to truly heighten their brand’s publicity. And by using the work of the most cutting-edge artists the national and international art scene has to offer, they give a new and interesting platform to soft-sell their own high-ticketed and acclaimed collections from.

Paying attention to brands that deconstruct their store interiors or exteriors and offer extreme contrasts to their sophisticated collections has become something of a movement we all enjoy taking part in – whether just by visiting these makeshift storefronts or by exploring the art installations themselves; or simply by talking or reading about them in social media. In other words, retail is no longer about selling products that appeal to us, but about providing experiences that can truly seduce us.

The art fusion collaboration between Louis Vuitton Miami Project and the American mural graffiti artist RETNA in 2012 was one of numerous examples that set the blogosphere ablaze. RETNA, with his hieroglyphics and calligraphic designs, created murals that helped to disguise the traditional looking Louis Vuitton storefront. The store was easily spotted for its vandalized look, instead of its usual Louis Vuitton elegance. Provocative enough?

We know that by thoughtfully juxtaposing and contrasting opposites, a truly winning formula can arise. Take a look at the London or Tokyo or New York Comme des Garçons’ Dover Street Market in particular. In each and every location, fashion fuses with art ever-so tastefully and thoughtfully. You may ask yourself whether you want to look at avant-garde clothing displayed in cheap looking plywood structures or walk around beams covered in low-end graffiti knitting in order to spend so many of your hard-earned dollars. But in the end, who these days is interested in looking at innovative collections in traditionally intimidating and unwelcoming store settings that seem unfriendly for some while fatiguing, if not boring for others?

If you’re curious about what the next paradoxical differentiator brands have been experimenting with, stay tuned for our next post coming in September when we return from our summer break.

HERMÉS ATHENS x Philippos Photiadis

Comme des Garçons NY CHELSEA WALK IN ART MURAL

Comme des Garçons NY CHELSEA WALK IN ART MURALS

KONGO X HERMÈS

DOVER STREET MARKET NY

DOVER STREET MARKET LONDON x Mondongo

DOVER STREET MARKET TOKYO

COMME des GARÇONS x Hermes “Comme des Carrés” Collection’s Event

Kidult Tags Hermès Paris Store With ‘Love’

Louis Vuitton Miami Design District Store x RETNA

DOVER STREET MARKET Japan

DOVER STREET MARKET TOKYO

25/
03/
14

Standing ovation ’13: Our fav. collabs from around the world

The Editor-in-Chief of W Magazine, Stefano Tonchi, commented in the winter 2013 issue devoted to art that “Twitter-and-Instagram-savvy designers have realized that in order to make a lasting impression these days, complicated ideas have to be conveyed in a simple, direct manner with art, theater, and fashion collapsing into a single memorable moment.” Indeed. Here are three art fusion collaborations we think achieved that difficult task in the last year.

Leather meets Denim: Junya Watanabe x Loewe

The art fusion collaboration by the unconventional Japanese designer with the internationally renowned Spanish leather manufacturer has achieved its well-deserved share of buzz. Their 2013 fall collection transforming various combinations of leather and denim into a series of unforeseeably playful pieces ranging in items from wallets and bags through jackets and coats, has touched the hearts of many of us; just like children, wanting not one, but every piece of the collection. But this is not a surprise coming from Comme des Garçons, the masters of art fusion collaborations. Who else if not them?

Bubbles in Balloons: Jeff Koons x Dom Pérrignon

Two powerhouses joined forces at the end of 2013 by transforming the Venus of Willendorf, the symbol of life and energy into a striking symbol of exclusivity and decadence. The limited number (650 worldwide) of manually assembled champagne holders inspired by Koons’ Balloon Venus retailed for $20,000. The rest of us with more typical sized wallets could purchase a limited edition bottle in a gift box designed with free-reign by Mr. Koons. We admire this collaboration for its brazenness and for being spot on strategically for the Dom Pérrignon brand. Not only did they create demand and talk value, they have contributed to contemporary culture in a way most brands don’t even dare to hope for.

Poppies in the Skies: Marimekko x Finnair

Even though this three-year collaboration officially launched in 2012, it came into its own in the spring of 2013. Facing fierce competition from Asia and needing to differentiate itself on more than price, Finnair literally took its collaboration with Marimekko to the next level. Mika Ihamuotila, Marimekko CEO and Mika Vehviläinen, Finnair CEO, perceive both brands as natural partners. “With our collaboration we want to show how design can help improve the well-being of people in different moments of life,” said Ihamuotila. Making Finnair planes distinctively original and attention getting in the normally drab setting of an airport was only the beginning. Marimekko created a collection of colourful textiles, tableware and uniforms, giving passengers a jolt of Finnish design from the inside as well. “Our goal is to become a design airline, and bring our customers unique experiences for all five senses,” adds Mika Vehviläinen.

All three of these art fusion collaborations were great achievements in our opinion, primarily because all three equally benefit their respective brands and artists, as well as the cultural landscape we all inhabit.

Bravo. Well done.

JUNYA WATANABE x LOEWE

Jeff Koons x Dom Pérrignon

Marimekko x Finnair

11/
03/
14

Brand x Brand vs. Artist x Brand

Collaborations between two fashion brands, like Levi’s and Brooks Brothers, or between a fashion brand and a retail brand like Target and Philip Lim have become quite the norm. So much so that the blogosphere has taken to calling them ‘collabs’. However for most brands, the idea of collaborating with an artist (painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic designer) is still unchartered territory.

So far, only the avant-garde (Comme des Garçons) and well-established high-end brands (Louis Vuitton) have ventured into the realm and managed to not only pull off high-profile artist collaborations, but reap their enormous benefits. In each of these cases, the brand’s principals were either artists themselves (Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons) or had a personal interest in and connection to contemporary art (Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton). This no doubt played a hand in the success of the partnerships and not only for their brands, but equally well for the artists themselves.

Traditionally, when a brand needs to draw attention to itself and encourage a lift in sales, it defers to its advertising agency of record. As art fusion collaborations gain interest from savvy brand stewards who see their potential to gain even more attention and buzz than with traditional advertising, this is beginning to change. However, it’s a rare brand director who would consider approaching their ad agency to initiate an art fusion collaboration. Rarer still would be one who was willing to navigate through the national or international contemporary art scene on his or her own. Working with emerging and established artists can be delicate. “When there’s too much marketing and emphasis on product, the artists can suffer”, explains Hervé Mikaeloff, the art consultant and curator to LVMH and the Louis Vuitton Foundation. And without an experienced creative hand guiding the entire collaboration, the necessary balance of art and brand might not be achieved.

For some organizations, it can seem tempting to initiate collaborations directly in an effort to save money. But they must do so at their own risk. For most brands, it simply makes sense to enlist the help of a partner who can provide a ‘bridge’ between their brand and the artist and navigate through the complexities of the collaborative process. Much like an agency, the partner is able to develop creative collaboration ideas and effectively imbue them with thought-provoking communication and design before that the artist selection even begins. They have established connections with the best contemporary artists in the country and beyond, they guarantee a smoother process and the ability to approach the project strategically to achieve the results a brand desires and needs. For more on this subject, you can read about how we work at Why Arts & Labour?

In our next post, we will review some of our favourite collaborations from 2013. Until then.

BROOKS BROTHERS X LEVI’S

PHILLIP LIM FOR TARGET

PHILLIP LIM X TARGET

PORTER X LEVI’S

COMME DES GARÇONS X KEITH HARRING

COMMES DES GARÇONS X MATT GROENING

LOUIS VUITTON X RICHARD PRINCE x MARC JACOBS

COMMES DES GARÇONS X FILIP PAGOWSKI’S ICONIC PLAY

LOUIS VUITTON X RETNA

29/
10/
13

There’s Art in Your Soap

From the earliest examples of art fusion between Salvatore Dali and Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1930’s and Andy Warhol and Yves St. Laurent in the 1960’s, art fusion has never failed to capture our collective imaginations. In the last decade, the number of art fusion collaborations has proliferated, now with many different types of Artists collaborating with many different types of Brands. Brands in the fashion industry have generally dominated the movement, causing one to wonder whether our culture’s fascination with these unions and the resulting marketing impact could translate to less glamorous products – soap, for instance.

A recent example has caused much debate at ARTS & LABOUR. Method, the US planet-friendly soap and cleaning products Brand has collaborated with London-based printmaker extraordinaire, Orla Kiely. The outcome was a limited edition line of hand soaps in various fragrances complimented by unique patterns á la Orla.

The debate? While there’s no denying that the collaboration has had an impact for Method – blog and magazine coverage has been enthusiastic and grocery store shelves are now much more pleasant to behold. But where there’s room for debate is whether the collaboration has enough ‘Art’ at its core to be worthy of the name art fusion. As lovely as they are, do the resulting products push any boundaries? Has Orla stretched her creativity past simply stylizing? The most important question we asked ourselves is whether the marketing impact the collaboration created could have been greater if yes were the answer to those questions.

Perhaps if Orla had gone beyond attractively dressing Method’s existing package and instead reinvented it to add more ‘ahhhhhh’ to the final outcome, there would have been more buzz? Even more chatter? Even more desire and more of a bang for both parties? Or, as we’ve seen with other hugely successful art fusion collaborations, if the Orla printed bottles were only one aspect of a dynamic collaboration, merely the icing on the cake, perhaps there would be no debate to be had.

The moral of the story? It’s perfectly fine for a Brand to dip its toe into the art fusion pond but it takes a full commitment to this art form of our time the make the biggest splash.

Stay tuned for our take on the differences between ‘static’ and ‘dynamic’ art fusion in future posts.

ANDY WARHOL x YVES ST. LAURENT

ELSA SCHIAPARELLI x SALVATORE DALI’S SHOE HAT

METHOD ORIGINAL

METHOD FOR GOOD

METHOD x ORLA KIELY

LOUIS VUITTON x TAKASHI MURAKAMI

CRATE & BARREL x PAOLA NAVONE

COMME DES GARÇONS x MERCE CUNNINGHAM

15/
10/
13

The Little Bag That Could

In the last few years, more and more start-up companies have been using art fusion to catapult themselves into category ‘players.‘ A great example is The Cambridge Satchel Company. The start-up fashion brand with one inexpensive bag design became a fashion media darling seemingly overnight. One of their first collaborations was with Japanese fashion label Comme des Garçons, making a series of fluorescent satchel bags into a multi-million pound phenomenon. Instantly.

Learning from their victory, The Cambridge Satchel Company continued with an even bolder approach, collaborating with celebrated textile design visionaries, Basso & Brooke on a line of limited edition satchel bags for the London fashion week in 2012. The limited-edition run of 100 B&B Cambridge Satchel Bags, priced well above the fluorescent series, were sold out immediately and cemented The Cambridge Satchel Company’s reputation as ‘it’ bag makers.

Currently, fashion brands are the most comfortable with using art fusion to their advantage, mainly because the movement was born in the fashion world. But does the theory work for products as mundane as dish soap or as mechanical as cars? Stay tuned for the next post.

CAMBRIDGE SATCHEL COMPANY x COMME DES GARçONS

CAMBRIDGE SATCHEL COMPANY x SUPREMEBEING

CAMBRIDGE SATCHEL COMPANY x CHRISTOPHER SHANNON

THE CAMBRIDGE SATCHEL COMPANY x BASSO & BROOKE

THE CAMBRIDGE SATCHEL COMPANY x COMME DES GARÇONS