Biography

Junya Watanabe is a fashion designer working in Tokyo. Born in Tokyo in 1967, Watanabe graduated from Bunka Fashion College, Tokyo, in 1984 and immediately joined Comme des Garçons as a pattern cutter and underling of founder-owner of Comme des Garçons, designer Rei Kawakubo. Three years later Watanabe began designing the Comme des Garçons ‘Tricot’ line and after a further five years he introduced his first own-label collection in 1992. Although designing under his own name, Watanabe still works under the overall Comme des Garçons title, which administrates and produces his collections. In 1993 Watanabe moved his shows from Tokyo to Paris and another eight years later he launched a menswear line in 2001.

Junya Watanabe is renowned for his avant-garde style; in particular, his exploration of new cutting concepts, his ingenious sourcing of fabrics and innovative draping techniques. Just as Watanabe was nurtured by Comme des Garcons, Watanabe has recently encouraged his own protégé to launch her own label under the umbrella Comme des Garcons label. Tao Kurihara, who had worked for Junya Watanabe since graduating from Central Saint Martin’s in 1997, presented her first collection at the Autumn/Winter ’05-6 collections in Paris during March 2005.

Watanabe debuted in the prestigious Dictionnaire International de la Mode in 2005, and has nearly fifty retail outlets worldwide.

Selected Exhibitions

‘The Designers’, V&A, Oct. 2001 – Jan. 2002

Selected Awards

‘Dress of the Year’, Museum of Costume, Bath, 2002
‘Mainichi Newspaper Award’ for New Designer, 1993 and 1999

Selected Publications

‘Visionaries – Interviews with Fashion Designers’, Susannah Frankel, V&A, London, 2001

from SHOW STUDIO
www.showstudio.com