Rei Kawakubo on AI, Black, and Young
In a rare interview for Dazed's autumn 2026 issue, Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo discusses her A/W26 'Ultimately Black' collection, her views on
Rei Kawakubo has broken her customary silence. The Comme des Garçons founder gave a rare interview to Dazed magazine, published in its autumn 2026 issue on sale from September 10. She discussed her latest collection, the pervasive colour black, and the role of artificial intelligence in creative work.
Kawakubo's Autumn/Winter 2026 show, titled 'Ultimately Black', presented 20 looks in that colour. They were punctuated by six others in a bright, bubblegum pink. The presentation had a funereal, Victorian mourning dress quality, featuring corsets, crinolines, lace, tulle, velvet, and silk. Fabrics were manipulated into extreme, abstracted proportions.
The Meaning of Black and Pink
When asked what black signifies in this collection, Kawakubo provided a definitive answer. "Black is the colour of resistance, of justice and of independence," she stated. It remains, she explained, an essential colour for her artistic expression.
The vivid pink looks served a different purpose. Kawakubo dismissed any specific association with femininity. For her, the pink existed solely to enhance the black. She described it as acting like a spice.
Emotion and the Body
The power of Kawakubo's work was underscored when a colleague of the interviewer was moved to tears by the A/W26 show. Kawakubo was asked if she consciously tries to evoke such emotion. Her response was characteristically enigmatic. "There is no specific purpose, it is not always 'for something'," she said. "I seek something new, but what the result brings about is something I do not know."
The relationship between clothing and the physical form is a frequent theme in fashion. Kawakubo explicitly stated it is not her theme. Her focus lies elsewhere.
On AI and Advice for the Young
Addressing contemporary debates, Kawakubo shared her perspective on artificial intelligence in creativity. She framed it as a matter of uniformity versus individuality. "If there are 100 people, all 100 will be different," she observed. "In the case of AI, all 100 would more than likely give almost the same answer."
Her advice for young designers starting out was strikingly direct. It consisted of a simple, repeated exhortation. "To the younger generation: just keep going, keep going."
The interview reinforces Kawakubo's legendary status for letting her work speak. A decades-old anecdote from journalist Susannah Frankel illustrates this. When asked what she was thinking while designing a collection, Kawakubo simply drew a circle on a piece of paper and walked away. Frankel called it the perfect answer. The A/W26 collection, 'Ultimately Black', continues this tradition of profound, wordless communication through cloth.
