The Japanese 'fashion revolution' of the 1980s marked an important turning point in fashion history. For the first time, a non-western culture had significantly affected the global fashion system, and had done so by projecting an image of hyper-modernism.

Avant-garde Japanese designers Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons introduced a radically new conception of fashion to the catwalks of Paris. It was not simply that black became the default fashion color or 'Deconstruction' the word of the day. Utilizing innovative textile technologies, together with aspects of traditional Japanese clothing culture, these designers were instrumental in creating a new relationship between body and clothes, a new attitude toward the beauty of imperfection, and a new appreciation of avant-garde fashion as 'art'.