Future Beauty Celebrating 30 Years of Japanese Fashion at the Barbican
This is the second fashion exhibition to be held at the Barbican and it was just as exciting and stimulating as the first. The exhibition covers two floors with many rooms and many Japanese fashion designers. It covers designers from the 1980’s to now and how Japanese fashion has evolved and altered the trends of today.
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Takahash, from the ‘Undercover’ collection of 2006. |
The ground floor represents aspects of traditional fashions with hints of the classic Kimono shape and old fabrics. However what links all the designs is their revolutionary experimental design. One design by Jun Takahashi, 2007, uses a laser cutter to cut skull shapes into red organza. It’s not instantly recognisable as skulls and therefore doesn’t have that gothic theme surrounding it.
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Rei Kawakubo 1998. |
The upper floor emphases individual designers and showcases their past and recent collection with video clips of catwalk shows.
Issey Miyake’s work is a real highlight. His work is almost origami. The cloth is folded flat and transforms when on the body. The exhibition shows both the flatness of the fabric on the ground and the dress on the dummy with a video explaining how it is achieved.
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Jun Takahasi 2007. Synthetic crepe dress with uneven hemline, appliqué, stitching and threads. |
A textile theme runs through the exhibition, with print, knit, stitch, weave and embellishment throughout the garments. Tao Kurihara has two knitted, crocheted and laced corsets with shorts. It’s the classic Victorian brassiere turned excessively feminine.
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Tao Kurihara 2005. Crochet and knit corset and shorts. |
For me, the most extraordinary collection is Jun Takahasi’s 2001 ‘Melting Pot’. It’s camouflaged to the extreme with the jackets, sweaters, skirts, trousers, scarfs, belts, bags and gloves all in the same patterns. My favourite is the embellished floral pattern outfit.
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Tao Kurihara 2005. Crochet and knit corset and shorts. |
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