Junya Watanabe

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Junya Watanabe is a Japanese fashion designer.

Born in Tokyo in 1961, Junya studied at the prestigious Bunka Fashion College in Shinjuku, Tokyo. After graduation in 1984, he started working at Comme Des Garcons as a pattern maker. He then began working as a designer for Comme Des Garcons Tricot, a line dedicated to casual women's knitwear. He started his own line under the Comme Des Garcons name called 'Junya Watanabe Comme Des Garcons' in 1993 and began showing in Paris that same year.

Junya, like his mentor Rei Kawakubo, is renowned for designing innovative and distinctive clothing. He is particularly interested in synthetic and technologically advanced textiles and fabrics such as his spring/summer 2001 line but also uses more traditional materials such as cotton as in spring/summer 2003.