Radical Fashion as A Clear Break from The Old Designs Summary

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Radical Fashion The Comme Des Garcons poster from Spring/Summer 1986 shows a black tarmac road, fringed with poppy-strewn grass. This prosaic image has a startling intensity.

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r ! Radical Fashion Edited, by Claire Wilcox VcS-A Publications Distributed by Harry N.Abrams, Inc., Publishers First published by V*A Publications, 2001 V6A Publications 160 Brompton Road London SW3 1HW ©The Board of Trustees of the Victoria*Albert Museum 2001 , t&f Judith Clark, Susannah Frankel, Amy de la Have, Valerie Mendes, Mistair O'Neill. Valerie Stecle £ Claire Wllcox assert their moral right to be Identified as the authors of this book Distributed In North America by Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York ISBN: 0-8109-6588-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2001088700 Project management: Geoff Barlow Book*typefacc design: A2-GRAPKICS/SW/KK Jacket credits: photo/Nick Knight; stylist/ Jane How at Strceters; Mir/Sam McKnight at Premier; make-up/Val Garland at Untitled; model/Vivien Solar! at Models 1 ; nail technician/Marian Newman for Amalgamated Talent; shot at Big Sky Studios; scanning/Idea; computer manipulation/Paul Hethcringtonat Howard Wakefleld; retouching/Metro Imaging Ltd; samurai coat/Alexander McQueen: dcsign&lypography/A2-GRAPHlCS/SWmK Printed In Italy by Conti Tlpocolor All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored In a retrieval system, or transmitted In any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission or the publishers Every effort has been made to seek permission to reproduce those images whose copyright docs not reside with the V6A, and we are grateful to the individuals who have assisted in this task. Any omissions are entirety unintentional, and the details should be addressed to the publishers HARRVN. ABRAMS, We 100 Fifth Avenue New York, N.Y. 10011 www.abramsbooks.com 'A Dress is No Longer a Little, Flat Closed Thing' Issey Mjyake, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto & Junya Watanbe a similar clientele, among them those who are most critical and discerning: their fellow designers and arts professionals. sought to design dress that was neither elitist nor ephemeral, but simply in tune with contemporary function and style requirements. Often the best way to forge Since it officially opened to the West in change is from within. After studying at Amy de la Haye 1868, the assimilation of western tailoring the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicate de la and fashion clothing has formed a domiCouture Parisienne, Miyake worked with nant image of the representation of Guy Laroche and Givenchy. It was the modern Japan. To western eyes the decline Paris riots of 1968 that reinforced his The Comme des Garcons poster from of traditional Japanese dress has done belief that traditional haute couture Spring/Summer 1986 shows a black much to erode occidental fantasies of an was anachronistic. Moving to New York tarmac road, fringed with poppy-strewn oriental 'other'. To the Japanese the rise of he learnt the rigours of mass production grass. This prosaic image has a startling transient fashions, otherwise symbolic of and merchandising with Geoffrey Beene, intensity. The highway, open and empty, emancipation and modernity, have in times the American designer celebrated for stretches for miles ahead; perhaps a of conflict with the West been condemned his high-quality, ready-to-wear lines for metaphor for the journey into fashion's as insidious capitalist manipulation. It is women and men, for clothing that was uncharted territory. For we are in the amid this discord that Miyake, Kawakubo subtly coloured and deceptively simple. domain of the radical Japanese designer. and Yamamoto embarked upon their careers in fashion. As first post-war In 1970 Miyake returned to Tokyo to Described as innovative and challenging, generation Japanese they grew up within establish The Miyake Design Studio eminently wearable or utterly incompa society that simultaneously embraced (the catchword was^reedom'). Utilising rehensible, works by Issey Mjyake, Rei western popular culture, while preserving traditional Japanese fabrics and techKawakubo — designer-owner of Comme native customs. The tension between niques, suchjs farmers' checked cloth des Garcons — Yohji Yamamoto and, these dual identities Is explored in and sasbiko (cotton quilting), while more recently, Junya Watanbe stand fashion collections that reveal hybrid embracing modern materials that independently on fashion's global stage. east — west influences. included polyester Jersey, Miyake's deArdent internationalists, these designers signs were often based on simple square are disdainful of any joint categorisation As specialist fashion courses were not and rectangular shapes. His publication by virtue of their shared ethnicity; indeed yet established in Japan, Miyake studied East Meets West (1978) details his early they might argue that the notion of graphics at Tokyo's Tama Art University. work and includes the sasbiko smock, 'Japaneseness' is irrelevant in an industry Dedicated to his chosen medium, prior to where it is seen worn by both the elderly that transcends national boundaries. Yet, graduating, in 1963 he presented his first feminist Fusae Ichikawa and a much in exploring their aesthetic and working collection, lyrically entitled Poem of Cloth younger fashion model. practices, there are threads that bind. and Stone. From the outset, and with the For example their garments often attract modernist's revolutionary zeal, Miyake •A Dress Is No Longer a Little, Flat Closed Thing' j 29 Investigating the idea or a second skin and fusing east-west imagery, for Spring/ Summer 1970 Miyake designed close-fitting garments with a tattoo print incorporating the faces of rock stars Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin who both died that year. This theme was revisited in Autumn/Winter 1989-90 with a printed polyurethane 'tattoo body'. Throughout his career, Miyake has exhibited extensively in museums of fashion, art and design. His Bodyworks tour was hosted by the VS-A in 1986. Suspended in space were moulded silicone bustiers — another second-skin solution — and garments of pleated jersey coated with polyurethane. Further exploration of body form — this time a torso rendered in black leather — provided the form for a handbag (circa 1990), donated to the VS-A. in law, also from Keio University, he studied at Tokyo's Bunka College of Fashion, founding his own company in 1971. While continuously pushing forward fashion's frontiers Miyake has generally avoided controversy, but from Spring of 1981 when Yamamoto and Kawakubo first presented in Paris, their designs generated a furore. At this time impeccable grooming, daytime power-dressing and ultrafeminine, fantasy evening wear was in vogue. The contrast could not have been greater. While western fashion generally echoes the contours of the body and is cut front and back, Yamamoto and Kawakubo wrapped and draped great swathes of fabric around the body. Foregrounding form and texture, in time-honoured tradition they exploited the full-width Miyake, Kawakubo and Yamamoto each of their loosely woven and pre-washed established commercially successful fabrics to create oversize garments that businesses in Japan before succumbing moved sensually with and independently to the centripetal pull of Paris. A graduate of the wearer. (Both expressed interest from Keio University in philosophy, special- in the void created between body and ising in eastern and western aesthetics, cloth.) Even brand new, their clothes Kawakubo is a self-taught designer had a lived-in appeal, were often multiunhindered by tradition or convention. purpose, could be worn in a variety Before establishing her label in 1969, of ways and eroded occasion-specific she worked in advertising fora textiles formalities. The duo revelled in calculated company and as a photographic stylist, disarray, offering garments with disparate acquiring valuable skills for future weight or length; misplaced collars, endeavours. From childhood Yamamoto sleeves and fastenings; exposed finishing observed and assisted in his mother's techniques and ripped, knotted and dressmaking business. After graduating mis-matched fabrics. Their use of colour i 301 Radical Fashion was emotive — invariably black. (Equally disarming were the designers' retail environments: just a few items of dress were hung or folded in minimal sites with an industrial aesthetic and hallowed gallery aura.) Reactions were extreme, reaching a crescendo with Comme des Garcons' Autumn 1983 show. Leading fashion Journalist Sally Brampton eloquently described Kawakubo's models (Observer, 25 September 1983, p.zg): 'Their make-up alienating: only a livid blue bruise marked a mouth or an eye socket, burnt orange and chrome was blistered across cheekbones and eyebrows, and their hair was as kempt as a scarecrows' thatch. Their clothes, too, seemed In tatters — great flapping coats with frayed edges, covered black and grey cocoons of fabric, which were looped and wrapped around their emaciated bodies.' Bemused and piqued critics issued headlines rife with conflict such as 'The Japanese Invasion' and coined the derisory terms 'Hiroshima chic' and 'Japanese bag lady look'. Ultimately, many were enchanted, sensing that, like Miyake, the genius of Yamamoto and Kawakubo lay in their ability to create radical yet wearable fashions for women of various ages and sizes. The prediction was that their Influence would be profound. consistently explore issues surrounding he is a superb and innovative tailor, body shape, sensuality, sexuality and the celebrated for his flattering, often black, sartorial gender-binary. Essentially modest suits that subvert convention. It was and loose, their early 19805 collections, Yamamoto who suggested the black suit and white T-shirt combination, now the accessorised with utilitarian flat-heeled footwear, were often interpreted as femi- professional uniform for men In the arts. nist expression. Kawakubo emphasised Dismissing neat and tidy as boring he too that she designs for independent women, emphasises imperfection, often inspired capable of attracting men with their minds by the ill-fitting and dishevelled tailoring rather than their bodies, and that her finally consigned to Dickensian waifs. controversial cosmetics raised issues For Autumn/Winter 1986-87 Yamamoto showed black dresses embellished with surrounding the painted face. Yamamoto a flourish of red tulle evocative of an 18705 The Comme des Carcons black wool describes himself as a natural born feminist, believing his design advantage bustle (stunningly photographed in profile sweater from Autumn/Winter 1982-83, is that he learnt the world through by Nick Knight) and subsequently designed represented in the V6-A, is a seminal women's eyes. Asked about his ideal ----^manj many crinoline styles. Other diverse design from this period. Punctured with nistoideal references are displayed in long seemingly random holes, the hand-knitted client, he muses (Guardian,28 September 1996, p.4): 'Ever'since I can remember, a coats, knitted in oversize stitches with garment is a challenge to the flawless perfection of machine knitting. Japanese woman has always existed within me, like medieval austerity; cobweb knits and jet a faint shadow. She is not young. She is 40 beading with a gothic edge and, quite culture embraces imperfection as a measure of perfection within creativity. or 50 years old. She is not Japanese. I don't unexpectedly and much acclaimed, his Spring 1997 collection", in which he paid The design can also be analysed within know why she's not Japanese but she's homage to early post-war couturiers not. It's very difficult to see her face. an historical context of cutwork textiles including fhanel. and lace; of post-punk expression or even She is always looking away from me. I am pursuing her. But I never reach her. If she as a continuum from Parisian couturier spoke her voice would be raspy. She is a A black cotton poplin sleeveless dress, Elsa Schiaparelli's 1937 Tear Dress'. woman who has given up being a woman. emblazoned with an asymmetric flash Dyed in shades of bruised purples and of orange to form an irregular trailing pinks, the print used by Schiaparelli But she is incredibly sexy to me.' hemline from 1988-89, exemplifies the (based on a painting by Salvador Dali and also in the VS-A) depicts strips of torn While Kawakubo likes to create unhindered designer's ability to create simultaneously by external stimuli, Yamamoto is expansive the visually simple, yet striking and flesh. Both designers explore a surreal in his outlook, blurring notions of history, distinctive. The dress is entirely functional. fascination with interior/exterior and Worn in the West Indies and subsequently culture and nation, while acknowledging juxtapose violence and tatters with elite that fashion is shaped by each. Gradually donated to the V6A, the wearer praised luxury to shocking effect. Using fashion as their medium, Yamamoto and Kawakubo introducing a softly structured silhouette, both its aesthetic and functional, elongated (By 1984 the shops were full of sombre colours, rough weaves and asymmetric detailing.) As Vogue so rightly pointed out in July 1983, if the European observer felt at odds with the look, the European wearer did not. Among the most receptive to this new fashion aesthetic were the British, already steeped in a cultural predilection for loose and comfortable, textiles-led 'artistic' dress, tempered by the nihilism of punk. ,1 'A Dress is No Longer a Little. Flat Closed Thing1131 slit armholes and floating conical shape that permitted cooling air flow. A seasoned traveller himself, Yamamoto's designs are imbued with international references. He uses kimono silks and oriental prints; was inspired by African nomads (Spring/ Summer 1982); Russian dolls (Autumn/ Winter 1990-91) and for Autumn/Winter 2000-2001 created urban, fairy-tale cloaks with fur-lined hoods inspired by Inuit dress. l" yi. Black', introducing a more colourful palette. Since then, she has struck a lighter note, sometimes even in tune with prevailing trends. But, more often than not she works at a tangent and remains unpredictable. Possibly her most perplexing output — which left many Comme devotees aghast — was her Lumps collection for Spring/ Summer 1997. Translucent chiffon and pastel gingham dresses featured goosedown padded lumps and coils that exaggerated or entirely deviated from feminine anatomical form. Kawakubo issued the statement, 'body becomes dress becomes body', evocative of Blaise Cendrars poem for fineartist Sonia Delaunay's •simultaneous contrast' dresses of 1913 (Buckberrough, 1980, p.s8): Often described as a purist, Yamamoto is also a humorist, who gently mocks the fashion system. For the finale of his March 1998 show, he sent supermodel Jodie Kidd down the catwalk wearing a giant crinoline bridal gown and muslin hat so large four attendants bearing poles were required to support it (see p. 21). The designer said he was playing up to mass-market perceptions that fashion was extravagant and stupid. As well as selecting exceptional beauties, Yamamoto caused a stir when'he first employed unconventional, mature and 'ordinary' looking models. Offering a new take on 'bag ladies' and fashion's lucrative accessory, for Spring/Summer 2001 he sited a self-fabric purse on the derriere of fluid evening gowns. Anything that Is a bump pushes into the depths. Stars dig into the sky Colours undress you through contrast 'On her dress she wears a body' Famous for stating that she designed in many shades of black, in Autumn 1988 Rei Kawakubo announced that 'Red is More accessible are Kawakubo's Comme des Garcons designs that deconstruct and re-present the vernacular of western tailoring. Questioning the (Unction of the I5i •* u 321 Radical Fashion Kawakubo's contribution to Visionaire (no. 20,1997) Juxtaposed images from nature - the protruding eye of a fish and bulbousfloraland aquatic forms - with organic looking details from 'lumps'. lapel, for Spring/Summer 1994 she used lapel structures to create city-smart halter-neck jackets and in Autumn/Winter 1988-89 for scarves. Mixing fabric weights and silhouettes, her menswear suits have combined cropped trousers with double-breasted sports jackets, featured shawl collars and juxtaposed, inflated and bleached classic checked fabrics. As part of post-war regeneration, Japan built up its industrial base and now leads in the development of 'techno textiles'. Working with specialist technicians and factories, these designers have been central in harnessing and advancing textiles' technologies to replicate commercially the appearance of labour-intensive fabric techniques and develop new fibres, weaving, dyeing and fabric manipulations. Textile designer Makiko Minagawa has worked with Mfyake since the outset, creating beautiful crafted textiles as well as holographic cloth and inflatable plastics for his modernistic designs. Discovery of a lightweight, easy-care, stretch polyester fabric that could be permanently pleated and accommodate any body movement was the catalyst for Miyake's acclaimed Pleats Please range. Launched in 1993 the designer has realised his ambition to create (Kazuko Sato, p. 102): 'An "easy style", like that of the jeans and T-shirt, but one that could be worn in a wider milieu: of apparel that, regardless or age or profession, could possess a modern kind of beauty while still being functional; of a style that would stay trend-free.' Indeed, his egalitarian approach to design has led to numerous commissions for occupational dress, which in turn have fed back into his collections. Miyakc's costumes for the Ballet Frankfurt formed the prototypes for Pleats Please, and dancers and acrobats have modelled the range to maximum effect. Injecting renewal within continuity, in 1906 Mh/ake introduced his Guest Artist series. The designer's multi-layered, pleated silk 'Bouncing dress' from Spring/Summer 1993 has been promised to the VS-A as part of Jill Rltblat's ongoing gift. !-': • 4* in turn becomes structural seams. The wearer need only select and free her choice.' Created with environmental considerations in mind, A-POC is constructed from Raschel-knit tubes produced by computer-programmed. Industrial knitting machines. These garments do not require machine-sewn seams, a development with potentially profound implications for the clothing industry. M^yake Photographs by Irving Penn series. Exceptionally, the photographer was given a free reign: choosing to present Mjyake's pleated garments not only on figures but also flat on the floor, as striking exercises in colour and abstraction. Kawakubo and Yamafnoto are fashion's recluses - rarely making public appearances or conducting interviews. In a bid to offer insight into Yamamoto's life and To devote his energies fully to A-POC. work, in 1990 director Wim Wenders in 1999 Mjyake handed over design of his presented his documentary film Notebook mainline collection to long-term colleague on Cities and Clothes. During the late 1980$ Naoki Takizawa (he remains general Yamamoto worked with Nick Knight, art creative director). Like Miyake, Takizawa director/stylist Marc Ascoli and graphics designer Peter Saville to produce stunning also challenges prevailing clothing conventions. Eschewing traditional biannual catalogues and has subsequently circular hemlines, the Spring/Summer collaborated with leading photographers Some thirty years into his career Mjyake 2001 collection included softly structured, Dominique Issermann, Max Vadukul, continues to explore the relationship Paolo Rovers! and David Sims to create ankle-length dresses with square-shape between clothing and the human body. distinctive, modern marketing materials. hemlines achieved by inserting blow-up This has resulted in his A-POC (A Piece of plastic tubing into the hem. Other garments Paving the way for the future, since Cloth) concept, created with Dai Pujiwara, comprised of layers of ethereal, multiMarch 2000 Yamamoto's daughter Limi textile engineer and designer at the Miyake coloured striped and polka-dotted organza. has designed the youthful Y's bis LIMI line, Design Studio. An in-house leaflet for shown in Tokyo. Spring/Summer 1999 explains: 'Like a Acutely aware of fashion's significance Between 1988 and 1991 Kawakubo not only as a construct of identity but magic carpet, when the roll is unfurled, produced Six (after intuition, the sixth an entire wardrobe is revealed. Dresses, also in time and space, each of these sense), a biannual magazine of inspirashirts, socks, underwear, and even bags designers maintains rigorous control all lie trapped within lines of demarcation. over the representation of their work tional images - few of clothing (not always her own) and devoid of text. within the broader cultural arena. All that stands between the wearer and their clothing is a pair of scissors by which As well as exhibiting extensively, Mh/ake In 1987 she participated in the Fashion to free them. The lines of demarcation has produced and been the subject of Institute of Technology's Three Women create a pattern of surface design that lavish publications including the Issey show. Along with French designer il; 34 i Radical Fashion Madeleine Vionnet (whose inter-war work Miyake cites as inspirational) and American sportswear designer Claire McCardell, she was selected Tor providing a new concept and vision of dress. Creating for a total way of life, rather than an ideal client, Kawakubo has also designed chairs and collaborates closely with her architects; Rei Kawakubo and Comme ties Garcons authored by design critic Deyan Sudjic (1990) explores her multidisciplinary output and an entirely water-proof collection (even fragile ruffled evening gowns) for his Spring/Summer 2000 Function and Practicality collection. Watanabe's 'digital modern lighting for the future' show for Spring/Summer 2001 was chosen to launch the Paris collections. Alongside more commercial striped tailoring, slip dresses and tennis skirts were neon bright colours; tops and dresses constructed from space-age, jellybean discs and rectangles and semi-transparent Jackets that glowed in the dark. Describing his product as 'techno couture', Rei Kawakubo's proteg^ Junya Watanabe is hailed as one of contemporary fashion's greatest visionaries. After studying at Bunka, In 1984 he was apprenticed at Comme des Garcons and three years later was promoted to chief designer of the Tricot knitwear line. Since 1992 Watanabe has worked under his own name as part of Comme des Garcons and has shown in Paris since 1993. Hauntingly beautiful origami folding, honeycomb weaves and garments entirely constructed from or embellished with petal-like ruffles — from chiffon dresses to thick woollen coats and capes — are his forte. Especially noteworthy designs include 'caped' dresses with slit arm holes for Autumn/Winter 1996-97; apron-fronted dresses that could be worn over trousers or skirts for Spring/ Summer 1997; garments suspended from coiled wire for Autumn/ Winter 1998-99 It is the ephemeral quality of fashion that evokes Its greatest criticism - constantly changing it can be of no lasting value. While operating within the structure of the industry, the output of these designers transcends and is often entirely at odds with seasonal trends. Critics draw on the terminology of fine art and architecture to describe clothes that can defy standard fashion vocabulary. Defined as conceptual - as mindratherthan body clothes - it is often implied that ideas take precedence over function. While some parallels clearly exist, the designers are adamant that they are not artists, they are in the business of selling clothes and do so with impressive commercial success. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Issey Miyake, Comme des Garcons, Yohji Yamamoto and Junya Watanabe present profoundly distinctive collections. In a fashion era dominated by pastiche and revival styles they are united in their vision and modernity. A dress is no longer a little, flat closed thing. But begins in the open sky and mingles with (be courses of the stars, So that she who wears it, carries the world on her back. The Universe is at Woman's beck and call. Joseph Delteil for Sonia Delaunay, The Coming Fashion (1923) 'A Dress Is No Longer a Little, Hat Closed Thing* 137
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Running Head: Radical Fashion.

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Running Head: Radical Fashion.
Summary.
Radical fashion represents a clear break from the old designs. Accompanying an
exhibition at V&A the book has focused on three major trends which are currently ruling the
international fashions. A poster from summer/spring in 1986 has been described as innovative
and more challenging or utterly incomprehensible work that was done by Issey Mayeke and Rei
Kawakubo who were the designer owners of des Garcons.
Since it was officially opened to the west in 1868, the absorption of western tailoring and
fashion clothing has maintained its dominant image in the represen...


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