A Sixth Sense

Six Magazine Issue 5 by Comme des Garçons. Ltd, 1989-1991.

In 1988, 15 years after founding Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo launched Six Magazine. A biannual publication, it featured visual elements with only a few bits of writing included. Working with designer Tsuguya Inoue and editor Atsuko Kozasu, Kawakubo published a total of eight issues, each release coinciding with the launch of Comme des Garçons’ latest collection.

The format of the magazine—oversize unstapled pages—gave prominence to the artwork of contributors including Bruce Weber, Kishin Shinoyama, Gilbert & George and Minsei Tominaga. Now collectors’ items, the issues are considered by many to be aesthetic treasures.

Kawakubo maintained that she pulled inspiration only from her own imagination in all of her work, hence Six Magazine is not a mere catalogue of references but a testament to the impact that Kawakubo and Comme des Garçons have had on fashion and the wider world. In The New York Times, Kawakubo explained her vision for the magazine: “High fashion has to have a mystery about it. This is the next step: visual representation of the collection, purely for image.”

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Thanks to Andreas Murkudis for kindly allowing us to photograph issues of Six Magazine from his private collection.

"High fashion has to have a mystery about it. This is the next step: visual representation of the collection, purely for image.”