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+ 19 powerline spring 05 THE CUTTING EDGE: FASHION FROM JAPAN GIVES INSIGHT INTO THE POWER OF JAPANESE FASHION AND WHY IT CONTINUES TO LEAD THE WAY. story_LOUISE MITCHELL, CURATOR, INTERNATIONAL DECORATIVE ARTS AND DESIGN the cutting edge Radical and conceptual, challenging and uncompromising, functional and some<strong>time</strong>s incomprehensible, fashion from Japan has commanded international attention since the 1970s and ’80s. Now a new generation of <strong>design</strong>ers continues to lead the way using technologically advanced fabrics and technical ingenuity. The pioneers of Japanese fashion were Hanae Mori, the first Japanese <strong>design</strong>er to show abroad, in New York in 1965; the <strong>design</strong>er known as Kenzo; and Issey Miyake, whose name is perhaps the most well known in the west. After establishing the Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo in 1970, Miyake showed his first collection in New York in 1971, and in Paris in 1973. Along with his interest in utilising aspects of Japanese folk culture and traditional textiles, Miyake’s preoccupation during the ’70s was the development of fashion reduced to its simplest elements. Drawing on the tradition of the kimono he produced garments which were, essentially, square or rectangular pieces of cloth, with sleeves attached, that could be wrapped and draped around the body. Over the years, Miyake has collaborated with weavers, artists, poets, choreographers and photographers as part of his exploration of what clothes can do and be made from. While these stunning sculptural creations were more at home in a museum or art gallery, his innovative pleated clothes, developed in the 1990s, reflect his continuing aim to create practical, modern clothes that are beyond trends. Similarly, his current preoccupation A-POC (a piece of cloth), a long tube of stretch fabric that doesn’t require any sewing and is cut by the customer without wasting any material, shows an ongoing commitment to progressive <strong>design</strong>. Miyake was the first of the Japanese avant-garde to gain an international reputation, but it was the impact of Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto’s collaborative catwalk shows in the early 1980s that really created an intense awareness of Japanese fashion. Kawakubo and Yamamoto’s garments were characterised by intentional flaws, a monochrome palette, exaggerated proportions, drapery, asymmetry and gender-neutral styling. The clothes and models looked shabby in contrast to the power suits and fantasy evening dresses in vogue at the <strong>time</strong>. Although the clothes by these two <strong>design</strong>ers were just as groundbreaking in Japan, it has been argued that the aesthetics of traditional Japanese culture, particularly of wabi sabi (beauty that is imperfect, impermanent or incomplete), and of the kimono were inherent within their work. Initially the response to these Japanese <strong>design</strong>s was hostile but within a few years the new aesthetic came to have a major influence on mainstream fashion. Rei Kawakubo had already established her commercially successful clothing label ‘Comme des Garçons’ (Like some boys) in Japan before she teamed up with Yohji Yamamo to present her controversial collections in Paris in the early 1980s. Kawakubo’s often-quoted remark, ‘I work with three shades of black’, belies the fact that since the mid 1980s she has departed from her original sombre palette and her collections throughout the 1990s and early this century have often incorporated bright colours. Over the years her clothes have ranged from sombre, asymmetrical and loose fitting to colourful, light-hearted, romantic and structured. While her <strong>design</strong>s have changed a lot and her collections are unpredictable, in Kawakubo’s attempts to defy conventional beauty, her clothes are still inclined to offend Western assumptions of taste and tradition. Her stated aim is to avoid conformity and to do something new each <strong>time</strong> she creates a collection. Since parting ways with Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto’s collections have been characterised by romanticism more in tune with Western aesthetics. He is renowned for working mostly with black and white and his clothes often have a sculptural quality. Yamamoto likes to combine unusual materials with a recognisable silhouette — for example, an evening dress made from a felt similar to that used for billiard tables. His clothes are marked by historical references and a sense of renewal, seen in his blending of culture and history. Now in their 60s, Miyake, Kawakubo and Yamamoto are based in Tokyo where they head large, commercially successful companies that produce clothing lines for the local market, as well as participating in Paris at the twice-yearly prêt-à-porter collections. Their creative dominance remains unchallenged and the new generation of <strong>design</strong>ers have often begun their careers working for them. Junya Watanabe and Jun Takahashi, for example, have been protégés of Kawakubo, while Kosuke Tsumura and Hiroaki Ohya have developed their own labels within the Miyake group of companies. Junya Watanabe is the most celebrated of the younger generation of Japanese <strong>design</strong>ers. Like his mentor, Watanabe is interested in innovative textiles and construction techniques, describing his <strong>design</strong>s as ‘techno couture’. The first collection to bring him international acclaim was in 1995 when he showed slim-lined knee-length tunics and pantsuits made from a polyurethane laminated nylon in bright colours inspired by the cellophane used in theatre lighting. Although the garments have simple silhouettes, the construction is visibly complex with folds, tucks and pleats emphasised at the joins of the body to make the outfits more comfortable. Jun Takahashi began his <strong>design</strong> career as a cult figure in Tokyo’s Harajyuku, the centre of Japanese fashion subculture. In 2000, under the aegis of Rei Kawakubo, he debuted his ‘Undercover’ label in Paris to much acclaim. Detail, layering and eclectic use of colour and pattern are characteristic of Takahashi’s work, which he describes as lying somewhere between high fashion and street wear. Hiroaki Ohya cites Issey Miyake as the <strong>design</strong>er who has had the greatest influence on him. An example of this aim ‘to always seek or create something new’ is his work ‘The Wizard of Jeanz’, a remarkable series of 21 cloth ‘books’ that fold out into clothes. Drawing both on origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, and the book The Wizard of Oz, ‘The Wizard of Jeanz’ is a technical tour de force that allows a book to transform into a ruffled neckpiece, a pair of jeans or an elegant evening dress Like Ohya, Kosuke Tsumura questions the role of fashion in today’s society. Since 1994 the signature piece for his label ‘Final Home’ has been a transparent nylon coat with up to 40 multifunction zip pockets, conceived as a final home in the case of natural or man-made disaster. Tsumura was motivated to rethink his attitude to fashion by the growing number of homeless living in Tokyo. The combination of the simplicity of Tsumura’s <strong>design</strong>s, coupled with their humorous functionality has made ‘Final Home’ a top label in Japan among the young. The cutting edge: fashion from Japan opens on 27 September. Presented by the <strong>Powerhouse</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> in association with the Kyoto Costume Institute. Media partners: marie claire & SBS Radio. Supporter: Japan Foundation. Catalogue sponsors: The Gordon Darling Foundation & The Suntory Foundation. WORKS FROM FOUR OF THE 19 DESIGNERS FEATURED IN THE CUTTING EDGE (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): POLYESTER ORGANDIE NECK RUFF, JUNYA WATANABE, 2000/01. PHOTO BY TAISHI HIROKAWA, COURTESY KYOTO COSTUME INSTITUTE; FELT DRESS, YOHJI YAMAMOTO, 1996.. PHOTO BY TAKASHI HATAKEYAMA, COURTESY KYOTO COSTUME INSTITUTE; DETAIL OF DRESS, JUN TAKAHASHI, 2005. PHOTO BY MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI; FROM ‘THE WIZARD OF JEANZ’ SERIES, HIROAKI OHYA, 2000. PHOTO BY MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI.
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