A Sixth Sense
Remembering Six Magazine by Comme des Garçons—a short-lived, explorative journey into the sixth sense.
"High fashion has to have a mystery about it. This is the next step: visual representation of the collection, purely for image.”
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 b...