If the European history of fashion is close to us, then the Asian world of fashion is a sphere for connoisseurs, and even ardent fans of Chanel, Dior and Balenciaga can not name five key designers for the countries of the East!
Today we suggest you fill this annoying gap, if you have one, and get to know Japanese designers closer, whose names are included not only in the local fashion history, but also in the global one.
1. Issei Miyake
Photo: Issey MiyakePerhaps the most famous Japanese on the world stage of fashion. This great experimenter, conceptualist and philosopher of clothing has devoted years to making the things he creates the perfect balance between art and practicality.
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At the end of the 80s of the last century, he became interested in various pleating methods in search of a method that would make it easier to manufacture clothes and care for them. Since then, pleating has become one of the iconic features of his style.
2. Junko Shimada
Photo: Junko ShimadaIn the sixties, a young Japanese woman, after graduating from a specialized university in Tokyo, came to conquer Paris. In those years, this was a rarity, and in addition, it was immediately clear that the girl was able to combine oriental exoticism and French elegance in a very non-trivial way.
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Junko’s first solo show took place in 1982, and after it began to be called "the most Parisian of all Japanese designers."
3. Tadashi Shoji
Photo: Tadashi ShodjiDresses from this Japanese adore Celine Dion and Shakira, Tyra Banks and Queen Latifa, and dozens of Hollywood celebrities, not to mention simple fashionistas from all over the world! Indeed, outfits from Tadashi Shoji are distinguished by luxury, which is breathtaking, whether it is a wedding dress or a cocktail.
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According to the designer himself, he sincerely likes the admiration in the eyes of women when they try on his creations, and this is the best motivation.
4. Yasuka Furuta
Photo: Yasuka FurutaThis Japanese designer founded the brand with the talking name Toga, in honor of an antique wardrobe item with the most concise and minimalistic design that can be imagined.
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As a result, Toga combines the amazing simplicity of the lines with the deliberate complexity of design decisions. This is layering, the difference in textures and colors, the ingenuity of details against the background of minimalism.
5. Yohji Yamamoto
Photo: Yohji YamamotoThis name is familiar to fans of haute couture more than well: the appearance of Yohji Yamamoto in the fashion world was like a real explosion. The 1981 show, which made him famous, presented models in black asymmetric outfits, rough shoes, no makeup. In those years, the public was accustomed to exactly the opposite, so critics immediately branded Yamamoto the "end of fashion."
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Since then, the style of this illustrious Japanese has changed repeatedly under the influence of the era and in spite of imitators. But nobody managed to fake the genius underlying his collections.
6. Ray Kawakubo
Photo: Rey KawakuboThe main avant-garde player of all time, the founder of the Comme des garcons brand, Rei Kawakubo, received from ridiculously unoriginal critics the same epithets as Yohji Yamamoto: her creations were called “post-nuclear fashion” and “Hiroshima-shik”.
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Experiments with fabrics and textures, an open dislike of symmetry and complete indifference to fame, Rei Kawakubo is not a standard on all fronts, which allows her to plunge into the very inside of fashion, deeper than anyone before her.
7. Kenzo Takada
Photo: KenzoIn early childhood, Kenzo Takada found patterns in clothes in a Japanese magazine that hit the boy so much that he tried to redraw them. After many years, this good aspiration led Kenzo to Paris, despite an absolute lack of knowledge of the language, culture, lack of acquaintances ...
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In 1984, the Ministry of Culture of France awarded Kenzo the Order of Arts and Literature, and in 1988 the production of famous perfumes under the Kenzo brand began. Since then, perhaps this designer has nothing more and no one had to prove.