How Françoise Hardy gave Comme des Garçons its name

French yé-yé singer and actor Françoise Hardy passed away aged 80 this week, leaving behind a vast creative legacy spanning film, music, and fashion. 

Hardy was a huge source of inspiration to the likes of Paco Rabanne, and became a longtime muse to Yves Saint Laurent, who kitted her out in a swathe of his masculine Le Smoking looks across the years. But then, if you’ve ever tapped ‘French girl style’ into Pinterest, or before that Tumblr, it’s likely you’ll be fully aware of her impact on fashion and the way we still dress now.

What you might not be aware of, however, is how Hardy is the reason Comme des Garçons is called Comme des Garçons. Though founder Rei Kawakubo is more known for her conceptual, sculptural, anti-fashion than she is for sending chic French girlies in sun-bleached jeans and simple white t-shirts down the runway, she’s actually a big Hardy fan girl. 

The name Comme des Garçons – meaning “Like boys” – is taken from a line in Hardy’s 1963 hit “Tous les Garçons et les Filles” (or, if your French is rusty “All the boys and the girls). But while mainline Comme might not be referential to Hardy, you can actually feel her peeking through in the striped Breton tops and slick, cropped tailoring of Kawakubo’s ‘Play’ and ‘Shirt’ lines. 

Click through the gallery above for a closer look at Hardy’s long-revered style, and revisit the stellar SS24 Comme show in the one below.