Yayoi Kusama's Fashion Legacy: From Orgies
A look at the late artist Yayoi Kusama's ventures into fashion, including her 1960s clothing company, her influence on designers like Rei Kawakubo, and her
The Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who died at 97, ran a clothing company in the late 1960s and later collaborated with Louis Vuitton. Her fashion ventures, often overshadowed by her art, included designs featuring strategic cut-outs and her trademark polka dots.
According to a feature published by Dazed, Kusama's relationship with fashion was a constant, if rarely acknowledged, thread throughout her career.
Kusama's Personal Style
Kusama used clothing as a tool for self-promotion and artistic expression. In the early 1960s in New York, she would attend events in sumptuous kimonos, playing with Western perceptions of Japanese exoticism. Her 1966 performance piece, Walking Piece, featured her wandering Manhattan in a pink kimono and parasol.
Later, her style solidified into a recognizable brand. She was rarely seen without a bright red wig and a dotted dress, a calculated image akin to Andy Warhol's signature look. Kusama claimed Warhol copied her ideas.
Kusama Fashion Company Ltd.
In 1968, Yayoi Kusama established the Kusama Fashion Company Ltd. The brand's daring pieces were sold in 400 stores and boutiques across the United States. Bloomingdales created a dedicated "Kusama Corner."
The designs reflected her artistic obsessions with nudity and orgies. Key pieces included the "Squid Dress" with breast cut-outs, the "Homo Dress" with a strategic rear hole, and evening gowns with peep-holes. Despite media attention, Kusama revealed these radical items sold poorly.
She later founded the Nude Fashion Company as an offshoot. It promoted "fresh ideas for enjoying sex" with items like the "Couples Dress" and the "Party Dress," which could accommodate up to 25 people. All were decorated with polka dots.
Influence on Rei Kawakubo and Others
Kusama's "Accumulation Series," featuring objects covered in protruding appendages, is considered a precursor to the work of Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons. Kawakubo's designs often feature similar convoluted padding, fabric sprouts, and protrusions that redefine the silhouette.
The admiration was mutual. Kawakubo and Kusama hosted a joint exhibition called Room to Grow in 2009. Elements of the accumulation aesthetic are also seen in the work of designers like Noir Kei Ninomiya, Iris Van Herpen, and Chet Lo.
Kusama's "Food Obsession" sculptures, which featured items covered in dried pasta, also find a parallel in fashion. The feature draws a comparison to Martin Margiela's work, where crusty, silver-coated paint unifies clothing as soft-sculpture, creating an uncanny, non-human artifact. John Galliano's debut for Margiela featured a coat with bulging, lacquered shells.
Louis Vuitton Collaboration
In 2012, Kusama collaborated with luxury brand Louis Vuitton. The partnership, which might seem at odds with her anti-establishment history, was unveiled at an event in New York City. The collection prominently featured her signature polka dots across handbags and other accessories.
Her fashion legacy extends beyond this single commercial project. From her illegal 1960s happenings to her boutique on Sixth Avenue, Kusama consistently used clothing as another medium for her artistic goal of self-obliteration.
