Japanese fashion is rockin’ the catwalk. On February 29, Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk will feature Yoshikimono alongside works from other prominent fashion designers Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and John Galliano. Yoshikimono started 10 years ago as a cutting-edge Japanese kimono fashion brand created by Japanese rock star and composer Yoshiki. Based on his strong desire to introduce Japanese kimono to the entire world, Yoshikimono’s theme is the “fusion of tradition and innovation.”
Kimono is the ultimate symbol of Japan, often perceived as traditional, timeless, and unchanging. The exhibition will challenge this conception, presenting the garment as a dynamic and constantly evolving icon of fashion.
“Yoshiki breathes new life into the kimono with his rock’n’roll sensibility and we are excited to include his work in the exhibition. The innovative approach taken by Yoshikimono, particularly with regard to styling, shows how versatile the garment can be,” said Anna Jackson, curator of Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk.
Highlights of the exhibition also include a kimono created by Living National Treasure Kunihiko Moriguchi, the dress designed for Björk by Alexander McQueen and worn on the album cover Homogenic, design works from the Hollywood film Memoirs of a Geisha, and original Star Wars costumes modeled on kimono by John Mollo and Trisha Biggar.
“It’s such an honor to be part of this exhibition. I feel grateful not only for my brand Yoshikimono being part of it, but grateful for the entire kimono industry coming into the spotlight,” said Yoshiki, composer, classically-trained pianist, and rock drummer. “Kimono is as traditional as you can get in Japan, a country which most people consider to be conservative,” he added. “I would like to keep tradition, and at the same time I’d like to break the unwritten laws the industry has made, which keep them confined within their own boundaries.”
Yoshikimono made international headlines last year for opening Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo 2020 S/S with a dramatic stage presentation that showed the traditional garment’s possibilities in today’s fashion scene.
Yoshikimono’s popularity has exploded in fashion circles. Top fashion magazine Numero Tokyo choseYoshikimono for its March 2020 cover, and Yoshiki himself continues to be in demand as a fashion icon. In 2017, Yoshiki was the first Japanese male to appear on the cover of Vogue Japan. In 2018, he made headlines as the male model for the launch of Yves Saint Laurent’s newest shade of Rouge Pur Couture lipstick in Tokyo in a demonstration by YSL’s beauty director Tom Pecheux, leading to the product selling out nationwide the next day.
Event Info
Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk at the V&A, London
February 29 – June 21, 2020
Sponsored by MUFG. Supported by GRoW @ Annenberg, Shiseido, and Yoshikimono
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