How Rei Kawakubo’s Comme des Garçons runway changed style and art forever in 1986.

In a Kawakubian twist, one of the jackets is enveloped by the shirt underneath, almost like protruding entrails or some kind of handkerchief; perhaps the Japanese designer’s way of rejecting the notion of formalwear as boring or without expression. The Mary Jane shoes that set off the outfit are almost subversive, standing out in relief against carrot-top pants. Each element comes together, forming an aura of understated grace. The NYC artist shines through the coldness of the nondescript Parisian dance studio. It’s a moment that will resonate for decades. 

This wasn’t the first time <a href="https://www.goat.com/brand/comme-des-garcons">CDG</a> founder <a href="https://www.goat.com/editorial/creative-director-cv-rei-kawakubo">Rei Kawakubo</a> enlisted Basquiat to walk for her. That came a year earlier when the Japanese label presented its SS86 menswear and womenswear collections in New York. “He looked like a fool out there modeling the clothes,” noted Basquiat’s ex-girlfriend Paige Powell to his idol-turned-mentor Andy Warhol at the time.&nbsp;
Yet it’s this runway moment that’s often brought up whenever the words “Basquiat” and “clothes” are mentioned, a prized currency in contemporary style discourse. Ultimately, there’s something irresistible about the era’s most inimitable artist working alongside fashion’s great avant-gardist. Both enigmas that the world has never seen before and, on many levels, will never truly understand. The mythos writes itself.

Basquiat wasn’t the only prominent name of his era to take a bow on the CDG Homme runway. Fellow artists Francesco Clemente and Robert Rauschenberg walked in 1989 and 1993, respectively, as did actors John Malkovich, Dennis Hopper, John Waters and Matt Dillon. This was in lockstep with Kawakubo’s penchant for casting “real men” who could strike up a sense of camaraderie amongst themselves, making the clothes seem more approachable. This practice endured until the ’90s when she eventually aligned with the women’s shows by hiring professional models. 

For SS87, Basquiat modeled six outfits in total, including what looked like a zipped tunic. But it’s the experimental suiting that lingers with its playing card-like shininess, achieved through the use of rayon fabric. The production appears gloriously clinical, almost pared back compared to the bombast that defined runway shows of the time—be it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_H-5I6n9rI">Thierry Mugler’s productions with Pat Cleveland suspended from the ceiling</a> or Jean Paul Gaultier’s invariably shocking 45-minute spectacles. 

Speaking to fashion journalist and author Charlie Porter for his book <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324020400">What Artists Wear</a>, stylist Karen Binns, a close friend of Basquiat, spoke of the moment when he agreed to appear in the show, with Kawakubo asking her to ask him through various friends of friends. “I go to Jean’s, I say, ‘Listen. You know Rei wants you to do her show?’ He kept on painting,” said Binns. They talked about the terms, smoked a joint and agreed on a fee. “He said, ‘Yeah, I spend a hundred grand a year in that shop anyway.’” It was in this exact shop where he found his CDG overcoat that sold for over $28,000 in 2018. Binns continued that Basquiat would only appear if they could all join him in Paris and that she had seen him smoking a joint in his hotel room before the show—perhaps the reason for his blissed-out demeanor on the runway.

Basquiat’s raucous lifestyle merged with a predilection for the more refined things in life. He wore paint-splattered suits from <a href="https://www.goat.com/brand/yohji-yamamoto">Yohji Yamamoto</a> and Armani with crisp white agnès b. shirts, and paired <a href="https://www.goat.com/brand/jean-paul-gaultier">Jean Paul Gaultier</a> sweaters and Stephen Sprouse tees with Stephen Jones hats and <a href="https://www.goat.com/brand/issey-miyake">Issey Miyake</a> sunglasses. According to friends, his food tastes were equally epicurean and his fridge was full of top-tier champagne, burgundy and caviar well before his work became something of a cultural phenomenon and commanded staggering prices. 

For some, his excessive shopping manner was interpreted as a way to fit in with a society obsessed with status and image. “Ironically, no matter how much he spends with luxury retailers, he can’t get a taxi on the streets of New York,” shared art collector friend Maggie Bult. Still, these sophisticated tastes, coupled with his rocketing artistic stardom, suggests the runways of the world’s fashion capitals and the rarefied ecosystems surrounding them may have felt like terra firma. 

Following Basquiat's death in 1988, an increasing number of artists, actors and public figures began to feature on the runway; Tupac Shakur walked <a href="https://www.goat.com/brand/versace">Versace</a> in 1995 while <a href="https://www.goat.com/brand/prada">Prada</a> sent iconic actors down a blood red runway for Fall 2012, becoming known in the collective consciousness as the “Villains” collection. Few, however, have left such an indelible impression on the fashion psyche. 

For FW18, <a href="https://www.goat.com/brand/comme-des-garcons">Comme des Garçons</a> marked Basquiat’s runway appearance with a collection of art-adorned shirting, a subtle nod to the past with an eye firmly toward the future. One of the great cliches from people who view Basquiat’s paintings is that the colors become alive almost like the artist is staring back at you. For Basquiat and Comme des Garçons in 1987, the roles were reversed. We still can’t look away.

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