dot COMME: the AUCTION
Kerry Taylor Auctions is excited to announce the sale of a substantial collection of Comme des Garçons garments from the collection of preeminent vintage specialist: dot COMME. All pieces come from the dot Comme archive and ‘new to market’ having not been offered for sale on their website before.
“I love dressing up. To me Comme embodies theabsolute freedom to dress however you want.”
Octavius La Rosa – Founder of dot Comme
With over 265 lots on offer that begin with the brand’s inception in the 1970s and continues through important and influential pieces from the first runway shows in Paris in the 1980s, radical designs from important runway shows in the 1990s and 2000s, and into explosive, colourful ensembles from the 2010s. Never has an auction provided such an expansive overview of one of the world’s most expressive and innovative fashion brands.
Rei Kawakubo is one of the most influential figures in contemporary fashion and the founder of Comme des Garçons, the ground-breaking Japanese label established in 1973. Renowned for her radical, avant-garde approach to design, Kawakubo has consistently challenged traditional ideas of beauty, silhouette, and garment construction. Her visionary work has reshaped the fashion industry, inspiring generations of designers through its creativity, innovation, and intellectual rigor.
“What I’ve only ever been interested in is clothes thatone has never seen before, that are completely new,and how and in what way they can be expressed. Isthat called fashion? I don’t know the answer”
Rei Kawakubo
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A Comme des Garçons black polyester ensemble, ‘Body Meets Dress – Dress Meets Body’ collection, Spring-Summer 1997
Estimate: £800-1,200
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A Comme des Garçons embroidered and printed ensemble, ‘Transformed Glamour’ collection, Autumn-Winter 1999-2000
Estimate : £600-1,000
Early Works
It is exceptionally rare to encounter pieces from Comme des Garçons’ formative years in the 1970s, before Rei Kawakubo’s landmark Paris debut in 1981 brought the brand to international attention. Even more remarkable is the presentation of 18 lots from this pivotal period, an unprecedented offering that provides a unique insight into the label’s early development.
Alongside these, the auction offers several pieces from Comme de Garcon’s first presentation in Paris, as well as other key collections from the 1980s that pushed fashion construction to new limits.
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A Comme des Garçons black polyurethane raincoat, 1970s
Estimate: £500-700
It is rare to find pieces from Rei Kawakubo’s early career in Japan. This coat anticipates the monochrome colour palate, asymmetry and voluminous tailoring the brand would explore in the subsequent decades.
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A Comme des Garçons black wool ensemble, ‘Pirates’ collection, Autumn-Winter 1981-82
Estimate: £800-1,200
This ensemble comes from the first collection that was shown in Paris. The key pieces from this presentation have intricate arrangements of horn buttons and voluminous cropped trousers. The jackets are typically buttoned for men, or quite literally ‘like the boys’.
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A Comme des Garçons blue wool-blend ensemble, ‘Gloves, Skirts, Quilted Big Coats’ collection, Autumn-Winter 1983-84
Estimate: £800-1,200
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A Comme des Garçons black and grey ensemble, ‘Bonding’ collection, Autumn-Winter 1986-87
Estimate: £350-500
Clever tailoring, checked patterns and innovative gathers were a hallmark of this collection. John Galliano would adopt many of these ideas for his Autumn-Winter 1987 collection ‘The Rose’
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A Comme des Garçons black cotton robe, ‘Round Rubber’ collection, Spring-Summer 1984
Estimate: £2,000-3,000
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An important Comme des Garçons distressed black wool dress, probably ‘Holes’ collection, Autumn-Winter 1982-83
Estimate: £1,000-1,500
This collection made use of voluminous cuts and intentionally distressed fabrics. It was a revolution in the West and launched Comme des Garçons into the fashion spotlight. “Those are tears to some, but to me they’re not tears. Those are openings that give the fabric another dimensions. The cutout might be considered another form of lace” – Rei Kawakubo
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A rare and important Comme des Garçons grey wool dress, ‘Gloves, Skirts, Quilted Big Coats’ collection, Autumn-Winter 1983-84
Estimate: £2,000-3,000
This collection saw a slimmer silhouette than before, achieved by utilising voluminous fabric panels and twisting or pleating them in unusual ways, so the garment clung more tightly to the body.
Modern Designs
From the mid 1990s onwards Rei Kawakubo’s designs became increasingly colourful, experimental and bold. Key collections include , ‘Broken Bride’, Autumn-Winter 2005-06; ‘Flowering Clothes’, Autumn-Winter 1996-97; ‘Transformed Glamour’, Autumn-Winter 1999-2000; and ‘Body Meets Dress – Dress Meets Body’, Spring-Summer 1997 – all of which are well represented in the sale.
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A Comme des Garçons geodesic ensemble, ‘Tomorrow’s Black’ collection, Spring-Summer 2009
Estimate: £1,200-1,800
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A Comme des Garçons trompe l’œil ensemble, ‘Broken Bride’ collection, Autumn-Winter 2005-06
Estimate: £1,200-1,800
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A Comme des Garçons embroidered and sequined ensemble, ‘Transformed Glamour’ collection, Autumn-Winter 1999-2000
Estimate : £600-1,000
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A Comme des Garçons cotton, wool and velvet ensemble, ‘Flowering Clothes’ collection, Autumn-Winter 1996-97
Estimate: £800-1,200
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A Comme des Garçons ruffled black dress, ‘Ethnic Couture (White)’ collection, Spring-Summer 2002
Estimate: £600-1,000
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A Comme des Garçons checked and sequinned ensemble, ‘Cacophony’ collection, Spring-Summer 2008
Estimate: £500-700
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A Comme des Garçons multi-tartan ensemble, ‘Lost Empire’ collection, Spring-Summer 2006
Estimate: £600-1,000
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A Comme des Garçons wool and cotton ensemble, ‘Wonderland’ collection, Autumn-Winter 2009-10
Estimate: £500-700
Junya Watanabe
A protégé of Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo, Watanabe launched his eponymous line in the early 1990s and has become known for blending avant-garde creativity with exceptional craftsmanship. His work often explores experimental fabrics, technical construction, and unexpected collaborations, earning him a reputation as one of fashion’s leading pioneers of “techno-couture.”
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A Junya Watanabe/ Comme des Garçons printed cotton dress, Spring-Summer 2003
Estimate: £800-1,200
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A Junya Watanabe/Comme des Garçons beige cotton gabardine trench coat ensemble, Spring-Summer 2007
Estimate: £600-1,000
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A Junya Watanabe/Comme des Garçons wool and lamé ensemble, Autumn-Winter 1995-96
Estimate: £500-700
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A Junya Watanabe/Comme des Garçons glen plaid wool coat-dress, Autumn-Winter 2007-08
Estimate: £400-600
Menswear
Alongside the women’s lines, we are also offering 18 menswear ensembles dating from 1983-2013.
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A Comme des Garçons men’s brown and red plaid cotton suit, Spring-Summer 2010
Estimate: £300-500
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A Comme des Garçons men’s mustard yellow and brown ensemble, Autumn-Winter 2013-14
Estimate: £500-700
dot COMME dot COMME is a specialist dealer of Japanese fashion. The founder Octavius La Rosa is considered an authority on Comme de Garcons and has been obsessively collecting the brand for over 17 years.
“I took a trip to Tokyo when I was 18 and fell in love with the pieces I found at the second-hand stores. I took a suitcase full home and that was the start of my love affair with the brand….The aim was always to build a collection first, business second, and nothing has changed – I still spend 70% of my waking hours thinking about Comme” -Octavius La Rosa
Octavius has operated a store in Melbourne for the past 15 years and will soon be relocating to a new premises. In addition, he has hosted several pop-up spaces in Paris and has recently established a permanent location in Saint-Germain. The complete 4,000 piece dot Comme archive will be moving from Melbourne to Paris this Autumn – creating an invaluable resource for research in the fashion world’s capital city. Octavius has now decided to part with a significant part of his collection, to create space for new acquisitions, and connect with his following in an innovative way.
“It’s time to let some things go, but I also have plans to grow the rest of my collection, document it properly and potentially exhibit it in the coming years.” -Octavius La Rosa
