Ms. Kawakubo, 74, has built a thriving business on a number of more wearable lines (Comme des Garçons Play, a “non-fashion” line of basics that has a heart with eyes as a logo, and Comme des Garçons Shirt, which is pretty self-explanatory), and she has a canny ability to balance art and commerce that has allowed her, as Mr. Bolton said, to “use the runway as a platform to express her thought processes.” But she is known for her more abstruse constructions, and those will be showcased at the Met.

(The exhibition will feature 100 to 120 pieces from 1981, when Ms. Kawakubo first began showing in Paris, up to the present; the commerce part will be on view in a store that acts as an extension of the exhibition.)

This differentiates her work from most of what has been highlighted in recent Costume Institute blockbusters such as “China” and “Manus x Machina,” for example, which connected fashion to the popular conversation — the rise of the East, the obsession with technology — in part by displaying lots of very pretty clothes.

More often than not, those clothes were sourced from major heritage brands, which then became co-hosts of the opening gala, helped sponsor the show (or the conglomerates that owned them did) and used the opportunity to dress many boldface-name guests at the party. Whose images then became core parts of their marketing campaigns.

Yet “pretty” is not a word Ms. Kawakubo has much interest in. Nor is “party.” (She has never attended a Met gala.) Nor is “celebrity.” Comme des Garçons ad campaigns have featured a bird, fish, fruit and a comic strip, but never a famous actor, and the brand has no official “face.”