Destroy!
Highly controversial and influential 1982 fashion collection designed by Commes des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo. Destroy! featured heavily distressed and damaged fabric [1], at times involving industrial materials like burlap and duct tape, and was paired with an eponymous fragrance that included both tears of sadness and human sweat. Rumor has it that Kawakubo wept after the first fitting. Not because it was ugly—but because, in her words, “It was honest.”
Destroy!'s distressed vision was widely derided in the United States and Japanese press, with Women's Wear Daily dubbing it the "Hiroshima bag lady look". The Christian Family Research Council went further, claiming:
“When fashion starts to look like despair, we should be concerned. God calls us to clothe ourselves in righteousness, not in tattered rags that glorify destruction and dereliction. This so-called ‘Destroy!’ line sends a dangerous message to young people—that brokenness is beautiful, and that chaos is cool.” [2]
The collection proved pivotal, though, for the Japanese streetwear movement. It's fluid forms and loose fit were embraced by tastemaking, urban androgynous punks - directly influencing subsequent '80's fashion movements and directly inspiring other collections, including the ill-fated PARCO Collexion, which debuted in Tokyo a few years following.