Amid the post-war art scene, which was revelling in national pride, the kimono became a tool of self-display and performance. In the early 60s, despite dressing in a consistently modern style back home in Japan, Kusama would often appear at gallery openings and public events dressed in sumptuous kimonos. The curation of a particular self-image is both an extension of Kusamaâs art and a medium of publicity. Below, we hone in on Yayoi Kusamaâs relationship with clothing and the rarely explored legacy she has left on the runways of today. Her shows frequently descended into sex-fests and, despite leitmotifs of protest and nudity, her collections were stocked in hundreds of commercial boutiques across the US.Âįrom Martin Margiela to Rei Kawakubo, Kusamaâs outrĂŠ pieces predate some of the fashion industryâs best-known innovators, âmy costumes invariably suggest the path of the new generationâ she once told The Guardian and this goes way beyond the humble polka dot.

Until Kusama returned to Japan in 1973, her clothing enterprise, Kusama Fashions Ltd, produced garments unrestrained by traditional approaches to design. Yet throughout all of her forays into counter-culture, fashion has been a rarely-acknowledged red thread. These âhappeningsâ would see Kusama pursued by the FBI, trialled, and even imprisoned. In the 60s, Kusama was at the helm of an emerging vanguard in New York, where she was best known for throwing wild orgies, illegal gay marriages, and impromptu displays of naked performance art.

There was a time, though, when things werenât quite so Instagram-friendly.

Mass outfit redesign oblivion