This is a piece from Comme Des Garçons’s “18th Century Punk” collection, the entire collection mostly consists of the color pink. Especially in this piece, instead of treating pink as a very feminine and girly color, it was created to resemble an armor that warriors wear during wars in the 18th century. It gives a different interpretation of the color pink than some of the other pieces in the FIT museum. Even this piece looks very tough because of the stiff fabrics and distinct lines, it kept some elements of femininity by using fabric printed with floral patterns. The designer tries to use this piece to convey the idea of how punks will dress like during 18th century, because women were not seen in wars at that time so it will be something going very against the social norm. Just by looking at the piece without reading anything about it, I will not be able to figure out it’s connection with 19th century, I can only see that the artist is using pink differently than the Japanese or the early Euro-American fashion. I think this piece changed the meaning and understanding of the color pink, pink once was seen as a color for both men and women but since the mid 20th century it became known as a feminine color. Even across different cultures, pink is now still seen as a childish and girly color, a color that is bubbly and playful. But the designer Kawakubo takes this color and combine it with a very masculine design. During the 18th century, women were not allowed to wear pants, and this design again shows that it is rebelling against the norm. The curator included this piece in the exhibition because it is such an iconic piece from the famous designer, and it overturned most people’s understanding of the color ‘pink’, and it describes the color in a different cultural and time setting.
