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Life doesn’t frighten me Michelle Elie wears Comme des Garçons

3 April 2020 until 3 January 2021

The fashion label Comme des Garçons (English: like boys) was founded by Rei Kawakubo in 1969. Kawakubo breaks with the conventions of fashion design by deconstructing, shifting, destroying, and distortion and thus interferes with a perception guided by Western ideals of beauty.

Michelle Elie, Paris, 2015 © Phil Oh

The Museum Angewandte Kunst shows parts of Michelle Elie’s vast collection and lets the fashion icon tell stories about selected pieces: From the moment of discovery at the Paris runways and acquisition, to the experience on her own body and the various reactions that wearing the pieces provokes in others.

“Life doesn’t frighten me,” says the Haitian-born Michelle Elie, and in fact it takes courage to wear Kawakubo and thus clearly position oneself against existing social norms. Elie self-confidently exaggerates her body experiences and thus challenges viewers to reflect on their own.

Curator: Dr. Mahret Ifeoma Kupka

Press Release

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