COMME des GARÇONS 2013 DM Katsuhiro Otomo 05,13,14,18 and 24
the set of 7 + BRUTUS Katsuhiro Otomo

This set includes 7 direct mail booklets produced in 2013 as a collaboration between Comme des Garçons and Katsuhiro Otomo, the renowned Japanese artist and filmmaker best known for the animated film Akira.
It also includes the BRUTUS magazine special issue devoted to Otomo (98 pages in total), featuring covers and spreads from all twenty-eight Comme des Garçons direct mail issues released in 2013.

This project was conceived as an unprecedented collaboration between COMME des GARÇONS and Katsuhiro Otomo, the world-renowned animation filmmaker and manga artist.
The series consists of 28 pieces in total. Among them, issue no. 19 takes the exceptional form of a tote bag in the same format. Each piece transcends the conventional notion of Direct Mail, existing instead as a carefully considered work of bookmaking.
The covers feature iconic characters such as Kaneda and Tetsuo from AKIRA, while Otomo’s name, boldly rendered in kanji, asserts a powerful visual presence.
Yet this is not a collected works edition.
Beneath his name appears another: COMME des GARÇONS.
In 2013, COMME des GARÇONS brought unprecedented intensity to the medium of Direct Mail through its collaboration with Katsuhiro Otomo. Distributed exclusively to a limited circle of clients, these works formed an extraordinary 28-piece series born from the convergence of two formidable creative forces.
The project was directed in its entirety by Rei Kawakubo, founder and creative director of COMME des GARÇONS.
Since 2008, the brand has pursued artist-centered Direct Mail projects, collaborating with figures such as Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei and photographer René Burri, both known for their uncompromising visions and intellectual rigor.
Within this lineage, Kawakubo’s choice of Otomo marked a defining moment.
Distributed throughout the year to announce seasonal collections and store openings, the 28 pieces ultimately transcended their promotional function, coalescing into a cohesive body of work in their own right.
Inspired by Otomo’s creative universe and rearticulated through Kawakubo’s distinctive aesthetic sensibility, these Direct Mails are no longer mere promotional materials.
They stand as a singular art book, born from the convergence of two extraordinary creative minds.