International fashion comes to Tieton

Comme des Garçons translates to "like some boys," which is open to many interpretations. As Andrew Bolton, curator in charge of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, says, the fashion designs of Rei Kawakubo are "open to interpretation, but not one interpretation."

On exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until Sept. 4, "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between" examines nine expressions of "in-betweenness" in her collections. Rei refuses to define her work. She once said "the meaning is — there is no meaning."

On Friday, Mighty Tieton is bringing the fashion of Rei Kawakubo to Tieton in an exhibit titled "COMME to Tieton | Comme des Garçons Fashion and Design." The 11 Kawakubo-designed ensembles on display are from the collection of Cynthea J. Bogel — many with shoes, from sculptural to flat, abstract to velvet and lace — and will be on display until Sept. 3.

Visitors are encouraged to attend a free reception that's open to the public from noon to 3 p.m. Aug. 12 at Mighty Tieton's new event space, 617. Bogel will be on hand.

"Comme des Garçons fashion in Tieton? Sure. Why not?" says Ed Marquand, founder of Mighty Tieton. "The art and design world is big in some ways, and small in others."

"For me, having this opportunity to show the brilliant, radical and highly influential work of Rei Kawakubo here is big," Marquand says. "Having access to the work through a good friend and occasional Tieton resident, Cynthea Bogel, reminds me how comfortingly small that world can be. The fun part is sharing it. Who knows what it might inspire?"

Bogel, who usually rides her bicycle to the subway station in Japan wearing Comme des Garcons, says, "Someone once wrote, 'If they are going to stare at you, at least make it worth their while.' This has nothing to do with my reasons for wearing Comme des Garçons. Although Rei Kawakubo's clothes may be difficult for the observer to understand, when you wear them, they are easy to understand.

"I wear Comme des Garçons because of the feeling the clothing elicits in me, not on me. The clothing feels intentional — and it brings out the creative and philosophical in me. Comme des Garçons is also extremely well crafted and — with the exception of recent runway pieces that are, as Kawakubo said of her spring 2014 collection, "clothes that are not clothes" — very comfortable to wear. Other clothing feels thoughtless."