The Art of the Show Invite
Mandelbaum Booksellers in Los Angeles got their hands on a trove of vintage show invitations for Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto. Those things were considered art in the early 90s, before e-invites and iPad check-in rendered them obsolete, but highly collectible.
The prize of the bunch isn’t exactly an invitation, but a 1994 mailer for a Comme des Garçons store display designed with Cindy Sherman for the brand’s New York and Tokyo locations. As lore has it, after seeing a layout by Sherman in Harper’s Bazaar, Rei Kawakubo sent the artist various clothing from various collections, to be photographed however the MacArthur Genius wished. The result is, naturally, a riposte to the traditional catalog.
Comme des Garçons and Cindy Sherman mailer, 1994 ($850)
Comme des Garçons invitation, spring 1996 ($150)
Comme des Garçons invitation, fall 1993 ($175)
Comme des Garçons invitation, spring 1992 ($200)
Yohji Yamamoto invitation (art by Marc Ascoli), spring 1985 ($195)
Yohji Yamamoto invitation, 1994 ($250)
Yohji Yamamoto invitation, fall 1982 ($90)
