For Its Second Act With Mikimoto, Comme Des Garcons Gives Pearl Jewellery A Punk Edge

The two Japanese brands are releasing the second leg of their creative collaboration, with Rei Kawakubo pairing Akoya pearls with punk hardware.

comme des garcons mikimoto — Pearls go punk. Credit: Tetsuya Nikura/Signo

By Gordon Ng, 8 Mar 2021

It was something of a big deal last year in January when the Japanese label Comme des Garcons label announced and unveiled its collaboration with Mikimoto, the go-to name in jewellery for cultured pearls. It was Comme des Garcons’ first foray into putting its name on jewellery, and a timely segue into fashion for the pearl house.

The initial collection, which consisted of a very tightly-edited range of just seven pieces, centred around the juxtapositions of traditional, delicate beauty and the strength and sturdiness of chains – a concept proposed by Rei Kawakubo of Comme introduced. Now, the second collection (the tie-up was first unveiled as a two-year partnership) is arriving.

In this collection, which arrives at Dover Street Market Singapore on March 5, Kawakubo looked to the hardware of punk iconography: safety pins, studs and fangs.

The idea of a strong image and rebellious spirit, rendered in sterling silver – qualities Kawakubo has all but suffused her Comme des Garcons runway collections with – is combined with the natural and organic beauty of Mikimoto’s white South Sea pearls. “Two things that never exist together in a design become one," says Kawakubo of the concept.