Future Beauty Resonse

The difference between fashion and other forms of art to me is the display of the human body as an extremely versatile canvas upon which a wide variety of sculpture can take place. Rather than being focusing on the outrageous and innovative uses of materials, such as nylon or even recyclables I was most impressed with the artist who created new interpretations of the possibilities of plain fabrics, and by that I mean basic cloth. The three who stood out the most to me for this reason were Naoya Hatakeyama, Issey Miyake and Junya Watonabe.

Hatakeyama's work involved showing the clothing laid out flat on the wall along with what it looked like once draped over the body. All of them appeared to be simple abstract shapes, if not even a single piece of cloth. However, once applied to the mannequin the pieces relieved a multitude of unexpected contortions and pleats which hung off of the curves of the body in very intricate and graceful ways. This reminds me of the Japanese art of calligraphy painting, which utilizes the art of doing more with less, not wasting a single brush stroke on anything unnecessary. I see this as a way of moving into the future by expanding upon techniques from the past.

Watonabe's work involved using a structure of fabric much like a honeycomb, in that it was a lattice structure that could be stretched and bent to create a larger volume. This method, also one that is not new, was used in a very innovative way to create a medium of fabric that could be sculpted as if it were a solid mass. I have seen this done in simple paper forms but never anything as elaborate as a something to be worn by a human.

Miyake's work was perhaps my favorite of the entire exhibit in that it was a display of the ancient art of origami. Traditional paper folding has always incorporated a large about of geometry and polygonal shapes, but the dresses created by this artist showed a clever application of this geometry to the organic shape of the human body. No person has perfect corners or angles anywhere in or on their being, and yet Miyake managed to create dresses that fold not only entirely flat, but also into a shape which was very artful and composed once folded. I see this as a futuristic bridging between two schools of form that traditionally held a large gap between them. 

After all of it, I see these works as a large step into the future, but not without much consideration and innovation of past practices and ideas.