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Contemporary design: The cutting edge: fashion from Japan

In the Area of Study: Design, you will investigate the influence of historical, cultural and contemporary developments on textiles. This tutorial focuses on the manner in which contemporary Japanese designers have incorporated all three of these aspects into their most unusual fashion statements.

The cutting edge: fashion from Japan

This exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum showcased 45 garments by 19 leading Japanese designers. These designers are not known for their conformity of design, traditional tailoring techniques or the aesthetic of making the garment fit the body. Instead, theír designs have been described as 'radical and conceptual, challenging and uncompromising'.

Activity 1

Visit the Powerhouse Museum web site at www.powerhousemuseum.com/home.asp and select Exhibitions and Events, then Previous Exhibitions, then The cutting edge: fashion from Japan. To gain an understanding of the types of clothing designed by Japanese contemporary designers, answer the following questions:

1. What makes this type of fashion different?
   
   
2. List the pioneers of Japanese fashion featured and the effect they had.
   
   
3. List the designers of the younger generation that were presented in the exhibition, and outline the areas in which they like to experiment.

Activity 2

From The Cutting Edge: fashion from Japan web site, go to Teachers notes.

1. Explain how Japanese designers incorporate tradition, innovation and experimentation into their textiles.
   
   
2. Read the short pieces in the notes on each of the following designers. What do you think is being suggested by their statements?
   1. 'I try not to fear radical things' Issey Miyake
   2. 'I want to suggest...different aesthetics and values' Rei Kawakubo
   3. 'There is nothing so boring as a neat and tidy look' Yohji Yamamoto
   4. 'I put all my energy into new challenges, the perfecting of new patterns and the search for unusual textures' Junya Watanabe
      
      
3. For one of the designers above, make a sketch of their design pictured, and note the features that make it unique. Examine the background of your chosen designer. What was surprising about their journey to becoming a famous fashion designer?
   
   
4. Neo-Japonism:
   1. What is Japonism, and when did it begin? What did European designers incorporate into their designs?
   2. When and how did Japanese designers begin to have an impact on international fashion? What is Neo-Japonism?
   3. List the features of the 'Dress with fish-scale print, Masaki Matsushima' that have been inspired by Japanese traditional kimono design.
      
      
5. To further investigate one of your favourite designers, or a variety of other fashion-related information, go to www.historyofcostume.com

Activity 3

In Japan in the late 1990s there was a movement in Japanese fashion which came from the people, rather than from designers. It was documented in a book called Fruits: Tokyo street style - photographs by Shoichi Aoki which then became an exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum. Go to www.powerhousemuseum.com/home.asp and select Exhibitions and Events, then Previous Exhibitions, then FRUITS: Tokyo street style - photographs by Shoichi Aoki.

1. Describe the magazine Fruits. Who is its audience, and what does it showcase?
   
   
2. Go to Teachers notes.
   1. What is Tokyo Street Style?
   2. Who is Shoichi Aoki and what is his background? What is his philosophy on fashion?
   3. Describe some of the styles shown in the Fruits exhibition. How have traditional Japanese and contemporary styles been combined?
   4. How does 'Fruits' reflect the continuing evolution of fashion in Japan ?
   5. What is 'Hokoten'? How did this encourage the fashion style of 'Fruits'?
      
      
3. Complete Student projects and activities: Part 2: Homemade Harajuku style.