Volume as Voice: Exploring the Visual Volume of Comme des Garçons

Volume as Voice: Exploring the Visual Volume of Comme des Garçons

Blog Article

In the world of fashion, where silhouettes often reflect societal ideals and norms, the Japanese avant-garde label Comme des Garçons has consistently rejected convention in favor of radical expression. Comme Des Garcons Founded by Rei Kawakubo in 1969, the brand has earned a cult following not just for its unorthodox aesthetic, but for the intellectual and artistic provocations embedded in every stitch. One of the most compelling and recognizable elements of Comme des Garçons’ design language is volume. Not just as a stylistic choice, but as a conceptual voice—volume becomes an instrument of rebellion, narrative, and identity.

Redefining the Silhouette: A Break from Tradition

In traditional Western fashion, silhouettes have long followed the contours of the body. Designers have celebrated the human form with cuts that emphasize curves, structure, and symmetry. Comme des Garçons dismantles this approach. Instead of accentuating the body, Kawakubo frequently obscures it, often creating garments that appear to overwhelm or even erase the wearer’s form. This use of exaggerated volume challenges the assumption that clothing must flatter or define the human figure.

Take for instance the 1997 "Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body" collection, also known as the “lumps and bumps” collection. Models walked the runway in soft, bulbous garments that distorted the body beneath. The silhouettes were jarring, almost alien. Critics initially struggled to interpret the collection, but over time, it was recognized as a groundbreaking statement on femininity, beauty, and the body's relationship to fashion. Volume, in this context, was not merely a shape; it was a provocation.

Volume as Emotion and Expression

Volume in Kawakubo’s work is not always grotesque or confrontational. Sometimes, it is ethereal, poetic, or mournful. The Fall/Winter 2012 collection, inspired by notions of white mourning, featured voluminous white garments layered like clouds or funeral shrouds. The oversized forms evoked not just visual weight, but emotional gravity. Through the manipulation of space and form, Kawakubo conveyed sorrow and introspection without a single word spoken.

This illustrates the brand’s core philosophy: clothing is not just something to be worn—it is a language. Volume is one of its most eloquent dialects. It can be used to conceal, to protect, to distance, or to draw attention. It gives the designer—and the wearer—a method of communication that transcends surface aesthetics.

Anti-Fashion and the Avant-Garde

Comme des Garçons has always occupied the space of "anti-fashion," a term often used to describe movements that rebel against mainstream fashion norms. In this context, volume becomes a tool of resistance. While mainstream fashion celebrates slim, sleek silhouettes—especially in an era driven by fast fashion and digital filters—Comme des Garçons offers a counterpoint. Its oversized, architectural designs resist commodification. They demand contemplation.

The brand’s Spring/Summer 2014 collection, for example, presented models in dramatic, almost sculptural pieces—more like wearable installations than clothes. These garments occupied space boldly, refusing to be ignored. They did not aim to sell a lifestyle or accentuate a figure. Instead, they acted as philosophical statements. Kawakubo has often said that she doesn’t create clothes for the body, but for the mind. In this way, volume becomes conceptual—it inhabits the intellectual realm even as it exists in physical space.

Gender, Identity, and Deconstruction

Comme des Garçons’ use of volume also intersects with deeper questions of gender and identity. In many cultures, clothing has been used to reinforce gender norms—structured suits for men, hourglass dresses for women. Kawakubo undermines these binaries through her abstract use of shape and volume. Many Comme des Garçons collections feature garments that defy easy categorization, rejecting traditional gendered tailoring in favor of androgyny or ambiguity.

The voluminous silhouettes conceal the body’s gendered cues, creating a blank canvas where identity is fluid and open to interpretation. This not only challenges how society reads gender through clothing but empowers the wearer to assert autonomy over their visual identity.

Volume as Architecture

Fashion is often compared to architecture, and in Kawakubo’s work, this comparison feels particularly apt. Comme des Garçons pieces are frequently described as "wearable sculptures," a term that emphasizes the spatial nature of the clothing. Volume here becomes architectural, with garments forming shells, cocoons, and structures that interact with the surrounding environment.

This architectural approach was notably evident in the 2017 Met Gala exhibition “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between.” The exhibition showcased how Kawakubo blurs the lines between fashion and art, body and object, presence and absence. Her voluminous pieces were not confined to mannequins or runways—they stood as installations in their own right, inviting viewers to walk around, beneath, and beside them. They redefined what fashion could be when liberated from utility and trend.

The Silence of Loudness

Ironically, though volume suggests largeness and presence, many of Comme des Garçons’ voluminous garments operate in quiet subversion. They do not scream for attention in the way commercial fashion might. Instead, they whisper dissent, their exaggerated forms unsettling yet meditative. There’s a spiritual austerity in Kawakubo’s work, where the silence of fabric, shape, and form speaks louder than any embellishment or slogan.

This silence is part of Kawakubo’s genius. In a world increasingly saturated with images, noise, and spectacle, Comme des Garçons invites viewers and wearers into a quieter, more introspective space. Volume, in this context, is not about excess—it is about presence.

A Legacy of Disruption

Comme des Garçons has never aimed to be understood easily. Its collections are puzzles, essays, and provocations. They resist simplification. Volume is one of the brand’s most powerful tools in this resistance. Through size, structure, and silhouette, Kawakubo tells stories—of grief, of rebellion, of joy, of questioning.

Her work forces us to reconsider what fashion can do and what it can be. It can be art, protest, poetry. It can challenge beauty standards, cultural narratives, and even the physics of the body. Volume, in her hands, is not just fabric—it is philosophy made visible.

Conclusion: Wearing Space, Wearing Meaning

To wear Comme des Garçons is to wear more than just a garment. It is to wear space, to carry meaning, to embody a question. Comme Des HoodieGarcons  Volume is the brand’s voice, loud and quiet at once, expansive yet precise. It is an echo of the future and a critique of the present. In a fashion world that often prioritizes conformity, Kawakubo continues to expand the language of clothing—showing that volume is not just about size, but about significance.

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