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| Bits of ITS in Japan |
| November 22, 2007 |
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21_21 Design Sight was inaugurated in March 2007. It is both a research centre for design and an exhibition space, created in Roppongi, Tokyo by the visionary architect Tadao Ando.
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The name is an explicit reference to sight: "20/20" in English means you have perfect sight. With "21_21" the idea was to express vision that goes beyond normal, that can ideally see the present but also the future of design. During Japan Fashion Week (30 August - 5 September 2007) it was the perfect venue for "New Designers Met in Europe", an installation to uncover new talented designers from Japan and abroad. Going through the list of the designers involved, there are lots of names we know very well...
To tell you the truth, we knew about this exhibition way before it happened since we had talked with Demna Gvasalia (ITS#THREE winner) about it in Antwerp in June. At the time he was working on his new collection "Stereotypes" and had already told us about this project of going to Japan together with other designers to present their latest work at Japan Fashion Week during a side event, and we were very curious to see how it would be. Demna sent us an exhaustive email together with some juicy photos. We have also read a few articles about it, and can sum it up for you...
Let's first talk about Demna's collection. "Stereotypes" is a strong statement for individuality against all uniformed stereotypes. Fashion often gives us uniforms that identify us: the employee, the sports fan, the truck driver...the list could go on and on. Garments are too often misused to show a social affiliation rather then expressing one's self. Demna's idea was to show that even the most conventional and stereotyped look can be reinterpreted into something more personal and individual.
The stereotypes are clearly there but he has given them a new twist through the use of different textures, shapes, or exaggerating the accessories. It is the first step in the fight for individuality in men's clothing.
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Demna was not the only ITS finalist in this project. Among the 11 designers involved there were also Yoshikazu Yamagata from ITS#THREE (he presented one of the most conceptual collections ever seen at ITS), Mikio Sakabe from ITS#FIVE and Taro Horiuchi who won the Diesel Award this year at ITS#SIX. Working together with Demna is Helena Lumelsky (the two make a team), a very talented designer who graduated from Antwerp who we know well since she was on the point of becoming an ITS finalist for two years in a row (we would have loved to have her but we're not the jury...). Mikio and Taro actually worked very hard also on the organisation of the whole event, which was largely supported and promoted by Mr Issey Miake, who evidently takes the promotion of young Japanese and foreign talents who deserve attention and consideration deeply at heart. And this is what "New Designers Met in Europe" was all about: Showing the Japanese audience work from young Japanese fashion talents who have studied in Europe, as well as a few non-Japanese talents. We are proud that four out of the 11 designers come from the ITS family!
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The exhibition lasted one week and it was visited by lots of people. The Japanese have a sensitivity that is unknown to Western culture, and their respect for and attention to art and design in general is equal only to their ability to express the wildest of dreams in different forms (fashion, photography, film and any other field that comes to mind). As you probably now from the typical stereotype (sorry Demna for borrowing the concept...) of Japanese tourists with cameras taking pictures of anything around them, they are very curious, even of things that can look apparently senseless to us. So it was quite strange for Demna and Helena (but not for their Japanese colleagues Mikio, Yoshi and Taro who are used to it) to see people crowd around the installations to analyse every little detail of the collections. The mentality of a Japanese person is: "I have come to your exhibition, and it would be disrespectful to not give your work all my attention and all my concentration". In Japan, at an event of this kind, you would never see a bored person looking haugthy as if he's already seen everything. What you get is everyone paying attention to you and what you are presenting. Now that's something people over here should learn...
After the exhibition a guerilla fashion show was organised in a huge shopping mall in midtown Tokyo, and again loads of curious Japanese came running to see what was happening, turning the show in a big success. Demna told us that there was so much of a crowd that he couldn't see his own staff!!! After the show the collections were moved to the "Pink and Punk"gallery in Tokyo who offered its space for one week as a showroom for the designers. Demna, Yoshi, Taro and Mikio, together with the others, had the chance to meet some very important buyers over there and talk about business (which is vital for survival!). Demna told us (we're keeping our fingers crossed for you, Demna!) he's had some good conversations with a few of them and hopefully some Stereotypes pieces will be sold in a few selected Japanese stores soon.
On the whole, the experience was a very important one for them all. Besides fashion, going to Japan is always like going to another planet. Or going back home from another planet, as Yoshi, Mikio and Taro would say. Lots of seafood and indescribable dishes that always leave you wondering what on earth your stomach is digesting, lots of bows, lots of confusion with the Euro -Yen exchange rate that means you end up spending cosmic amounts of money without even realising... Demna was even caught in the middle of a typhoon at 3 in the morning driving in a cab that was actually flying with the wind!
As for other similar articles we've written on our website about what former ITS finalists are doing, these stories warm our souls. This is because we can picture them, tense and focused, while preparing their installations and presenting their work. We can imagine their worries and doubts about the path they've decided to take. About their will to succeed, and the efforts they make. And the talent they have. We're glad that things are happening for them and that they are continuing to make things happen. With them, creativity is in safe hands.
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