Three decades of Japanese fashion and history graces the Barbican Centre’s Art Gallery this autumn, courtesy of the Kyoto Costume Institute. Curated by the Institute’s Director, Akiko Fukai, this exhibition traces the development of Japanese design and lays out the simple elegance that defines Japanese beauty.
Future Beauty takes you through the evolution of Japanese design visually, first contextualising the clothing with a touch of fashion history. In the early 1980s, Japanese designers shocked the industry by advancing an aesthetic that defied prevalent Western trends. At the time, the West embraced boldness, colours and fitted tailoring. Following the fame and success of Kenzo Takada and Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo, founder of Comme des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto sought to conceal the body through large, flowing geometric shapes in a variety of fabrics. The feminine shape was disposed of and deconstructed to make way for androgyny, drawing attention to design by obscuring the distracting and less aesthetically significant human form.
Kawakubo introduced the world to her surprising vision in 1982, and the ensuing reaction was coined the “black shock”. Her protégé, Junya Watanabe, expanded the range of Kawakubo’s definition by shaping black fabric of different textures and weight. The emphasis of each garment was structure without frills, to the point of being almost architectural. As early as 2001, Watanabe’s textile innovation and use of modern synthetic materials earned the label of “techno-couture”, sparking yet another design branch. Design, different fabric, one colour (or perhaps a non-colour): those defined the “new black” look. Today, this unique and highly specific philosophy has certainly left its mark on newer designers such as Margiela and Ann Demeulemeester. Both designers hold the same reverence for deliberately clean and clear palettes, abandoning colour in favour of emphasis on design.
In one section, Future Beauty highlighted Rei Kawakubo’s desertion of tailoring and the sculted silhouette. Exploring the concept of flatness, Kawakubo opposed the conventions of gender-specific dressing and defied the narrow expectations of Western culture. This was preceded by Issey Miyake’s 1976 work, “A Piece of Cloth”, featuring a figure in a single length of fabric hung in geometric shapes. This experimental work was a statement of ma, the Japanese notion that voids between objects are not merely empty, but rich and energised spaces. The focus on negative space and spartan lines reveal the cultural preference for an unadorned aesthetic that speaks for itself without unnecessary distractions.
Challenging norms and tradition was another feature of Japanese design that the exhibition raised. For a culture so rooted in tradition, Japanese designers addressed taboos and trod new avant garde ground. Yamamoto encroached on kimono culture, but not without careful thought and deliberation as he formerly considered it taboo. Kawakubo likewise subverted tradition through experimental deconstruction and editing. Clothing archetypes were modified extensively to the point of reinvention. Beyond design, Kawakubo also rebelled on the runway. In a recorded interview, she decided to use men from every profession as models to bring out each outfit’s distinct personality. Art world personalities and celebrities were used on the catwalk as well, following early catalogues featuring figures from Japanese art and literature. Contemporary designer Jun Takahashi took the lead from his masters, presenting a striking red dress comprised entirely of layers of skull cut-outs in his Spring/Summer 2007 collection. His line, Under Cover, also bears the same enhancement by touches of incongruence and controversy.
Future Beauty rounded off on a youthful note by devoting the tail end to Ohya and ZUCCA, labels embraced by a younger demographic. Instead of embodying pure beauty, these modern labels spawned from the hokoten (“pedestrian paradise”) of the now famous Harajuku populated by students and young people. Amidst the chaos and sensory overload, Ohya and ZUCCA turned to a simple and judicious incorporation of classic manga icons, such as Hello Kitty and Astro Boy. International icons were also featured. In his Spring/Summer 2000 collection, Hirosaki Ohya presented a dress constructed from twenty one volumes of books. Again with the architectural feel, the patterning and shapes of the folds were inspired by the Wizard of Oz. Other designers also fell into subgroups. A noteworthy and unusual aesthetic would be the Gothic Lolita look, which plays on the juxtapositions of overt sexuality, girlish kawaii-ness (“cuteness”) and child-like elements packaged in Victorian or Rococo-inspired costumes.
This is definitely the exhibition to see as a breather from work. The time span it covers is well-plotted and provides a comprehensive insight into Japanese design. One point to note: although visually stimulating, Future Beauty would be far better appreciated with some background knowledge on Japanese culture. Some familiarity with fashion history and technical terms would be useful as well, so read up and head on down today!
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This review has also been published in this week's issue of PartB, The Beaver. Pick up a copy for more on fashion, news, music and other LSE happenings!
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