What to Expect from Met Gala 2017's Comme des Garçons Theme

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published 25 April 17

If there were any designer you could pinpoint throughout history as never daring to send a boring look down the runway, it's Rei Kawakubo. Her visionary, ever-evolving label Comme des Garçons has been catnip for fashion editors since its inception in the '70s because every show is a completely new spectacle. Its inventive creations defy conventional shapes and operate less as functional pieces than dazzling works of art.

And with a new exhibit in her honor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art—"Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between"—the kick-off celebration at the Met Gala on May 1 is certain to be one of the most exciting, off-the-wall red carpets (opens in new tab) the crimson steps have ever seen (opens in new tab).

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Consider the history of the brand. Kawakubo drew inspiration (opens in new tab) for the French name Comme des Garçons from a song by '60s French singer Françoise Hardy, "Tous les garçons et les filles." But the label itself ditches the buttoned-up style of the French for an experimental tradition that's all its own. There were ghostly, deconstructed wedding dresses (opens in new tab) in 2005, "2 Dimension" designs in 2012 that resembled paper dolls, and 3D floral armor (opens in new tab) in 2016. It seems well-deserved, then, that she's only the second living designer since Yves Saint Laurent to earn her own exhibit at the Met.

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So this year? Place your bets...Rihanna in giant, wedding cake tiers? Beyoncé—usually the last to make an entrance on the red-carpet—wearing a larger than life, ruffled cape over her baby bump rather than the usual curve-hugging Givenchy (opens in new tab)? Solange, always the weirdest on the red carpet, truly in her element? SJP going HAM on the headpieces? Kylie Jenner forgoing neon hair (opens in new tab) for truly, *over-the-top powdered* wigs? We're ready for it.

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Lori Keong