Junya Watanabe Women

Junya Watanabe is one of a generation of designers whose personal visions have effected major evolutions in the fashion industry. Born in Fukushima, Japan, in 1961, he went on to study styling at Tokyo's famous Bunka Fashion College, where he received his diploma in 1984. Shortly thereafter, he began working as an apprentice pattern-cutter at Comme des Garçons, an iconic label that would take on special significance in the young creative's fashion trajectory. Climbing the ranks little by little, before long the rising designer would become supervisor of the house's knitwear, followed by its men's line. In 1992, Watanabe became the first creator in a long series to launch an eponymous line under the CdG umbrella. First presented in Tokyo, Junya Watanabe for Comme des Garçons designs were unveiled in Paris in 1993. It was an important introduction to the French capital — a city that would continue to captivate him, and where he still presents four collections a year. Inspired by the work of Pierre Cardin and Issey Miyake, Junya Watanabe has long been the purveyor of a style that's at once graphic and futuristic, where basics are pushed to their extremes to become all-the-more essential. With plays on scale and medium often taking center stage, Watanabe's designs are synonymous with complexity and avant-gardism. Accessible and inquisitive, for decades the prolific creator has been committed to collaborations with a variety of other labels, in the interest of consistently pushing the boundaries of fashion, from Levi's to Moncler via Reebok. And still, nary a false step.