Comme des Garçons' direct mail (DM) features a specific artist each year. The first issue of 2013 was recently released. This year's selected artist is manga artist Katsuhiro Otomo. The cover of the first issue features the illustration used on the cover of the first volume of his signature work, "AKIRA," featuring the main characters Kaneda and Kei.

This DM informs customers of the start of the season, shop openings, event information, and more. Approximately 40 DMs are issued per year, and the concept is that when all DMs are collected, they form a book.

The designs are created by Rei Kawakubo herself, who personally selects artists and freely edits their works with collages, cuts, and crops. This time, Otomo's manga and illustrations are edited in a variety of styles, including full color and black and white. The center double-page spread of the booklet features the backdrop of Neo-Tokyo, the setting of Akira, and reads, "The Spring-Summer 2013 collections have arrived. Please come and see them." This series, which began in 2008, first featured artist Mondongo, followed in 2009 by filmmakers the Quey Brothers, in 2010 by contemporary artist Ai Weiwei, in 2011 by the graphic artist collective Assume Vivid Astro Focus, and in 2012 by Magnum photographer René Burri. This year, the sixth in the series, marks the first time that a Japanese artist has been featured, with Otomo Katsuhiro, whose large-scale retrospective last year garnered much attention. Typically, the season's entire interior, from in-store displays to New Year's cards, is dominated by the work of the selected artist. Collaboration items have been released in the past, and this year an exclusive project with Otomo is expected.