Junya Watanabe (b. 1961, Fukushima) joined the Comme des Garçons label in 1984 as an apprentice after graduating from Bunka Fashion College, Tokyo. Loyal to the brand and close to its founder, Rei Kawakubo (b. 1942, Tokyo), he gradually ascended through the ranks and, in 1993, presented his first collection there under his own name. The solid-colour khaki dress shown here forms part of the Autumn–Winter 1998–9 collection and is characteristic of his approach: the fabric is cut with great simplicity and elegantly structured by means of a spiral metal rod. Although very limited resources appear to be involved, the creation of this piece requires a high level of skill and absolute precision in the cut. Watanabe describes his creations as ‘techno-couture’, combining traditional fabrics such as tweed or flannel with innovative assembly techniques to produce folds and flounces. In this way, his pieces deconstruct traditional fashion codes and rewrite them to create unexpected and experimental forms.