Cats Wearing Comme des Garçons

Browsing my Instagram I came across @cats_wearing_cdg. I love illustrations and one of my very best friends is all about cats, I saw the fabulous hand cut and collage art and immediately shared it with her. I wanted to know more about the master mind and creativity behind the account, so I contacted the creator and decided to interview him / her.

How did you conceive the idea of creating Cats in Comme des Garçons?

It’s two of us working on this project, A and L. We both have a creative background and have always loved to experiment with the collage medium. The freedom this medium can provide when it comes to world building is very fascinating. We also really love fashion, especially Japanese designers. So the idea of dressing cats in CDG came because we actually wanted to open an archive store where we could curate cult pieces from Japanese designers, but the idea didn’t go through due to time constraints. In honor of that unfulfilled project, we decided to search for pieces we love and use collage to create looks we would imagine archiving in our store. As for cats, we just love cats (and anything furry) and wanted to bring a sort of playful rebellion to a somewhat serious industry.

What is the technique you use to create Cats in Comme des Garçons?

We use both analog and digital techniques to create our collages. The whole process involves a myriad of steps and it takes us anything from one to three days to complete one cat depending on the complexity. We first start with the analog side of things; researching for the right images, then printing and cutting (and a few other mystery steps), and we finish it with software clean up for the finalized surreal and whimsical look. Working with our hands comes naturally and we really enjoy the analog aspect of collage, but the digital side definitely brings the collage to life.

What do you love about the fashion industry?

The industry is such a complex ecosystem, and we love it for the madness. It’s fascinating to see how the most talented creative expressions can take physical form one stitch at a time. It’s also an industry, like any other, driven by money and greed. So the paradox of creative expression versus the inherent capitalistic value of fashion has always been an interesting topic to explore. It’s complex, it’s beautiful, it’s sad, it’s angering, but it’s also inspiring. I don’t know if there is any other industry that is so multi-faceted and complicated like the fashion industry.

Is Comme des Garçons your favorite brand?

We would say so. We’ve been obsessed with Comme des Garçons for over a decade now. We owe a lot of our current state of mind to Rei Kawakubo and her unmatched vision regarding design, freedom, business and creation. We truly believe there is no other brand that balances the business aspect with the creative process like Comme des Garçons does it. We would also like to add that Comme des Garçons is probably the only brand we could dedicate a whole collage project to, because of all the different sub-brands they have under the CDG umbrella. They have truly built a whole creative universe within one brand, catering to different consumers and occasions.

Where can we find your Prints?

We recently launched our fine art print shop featuring some of our most loved collage looks. We’re really grateful to everyone who has supported our project by purchasing a print. Every available print is an exclusive run of 100 limited copies, and you can find them at www.catswearingcdg.com