Opening Black Boxes

Shinichiro Arakawa's Honda collection is not shown in Paris. It is in Tokyo that the fusion between the Japanese fashion designer and the Motor Company has taken place each season since 1997. Simultaneously an adaptation of the image and a creative outlet, it is possibly the most convincing and successful co-branding process in the fashion galaxy

Collectors

Born in Japan in 1967 Shinichiro, after studying at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, naturally turned towards fashion and in 1989 chose Paris to attend classes in fashion design at the Studio Bercot. From 1990 to 1992 he worked at the same time as an assistant to the fashion designer Christopher Nemeth.
He then launched his own brand showing as his first collection in Paris under his own name the spring-summer 94 season. From then on he regularly showed his collections at the Paris and Tokyo fashion shows.
In September 96 he opened a store in Paris on the rue du Plâtre, then was awarded an ANDAM scholarship in 97 for his collection built around the theme of the bombyx chrysalis (a metaphor for the businessman: the silkworm butterfly has wings but can not fly) which was also shown in Tokyo where he set up his podium in the heart of the Shinjuku business district.
In April 97, he showed his autumn-winter collection at the Komaba residence of Tokyo University (the symbolic site of the students’ revolt of the 60s), around the theme of the "IVY LOOK", a reference to the clothing culture of Japanese school girls, the Kogyaru who, within the strict school regulations, manage to integrate a zest of personality.
It was after this fashion show that HONDA Motorbikes & Sports, very impressed by his work, issued him with a formal invitation to create a special limited edition collection under the label of "Shinichiro Arakawa-Honda".

In July 97 the first showing of the "Shinichiro Arakawa-Honda" collection took place at the firm’s Welcome Plaza showroom in Tokyo. The collection was a commercial and media success on both continents: the stores of the Japanese group Beams snapped it up and all the items were soon sold out.
A contract from this moment on linked Honda and Shinichiro Arakawa for the creation of a women’s line, followed by a mixed line and lastly an accessories collection. The association did not disappoint expectations and was to remain a notable rendez-vous at the Tokyo fashion week.

In March 1998 he was given a retrospective exhibition at the Galerie Glassbox in Paris where Honda was present in the form of a racing bike redecorated in the Group’s colours. Shinichiro opened a new store in the Harajuku district of Tokyo in October;

His three most recent Paris collections (shown under his own label and built one after another around the themes of the first, second and third dimension) made a strong impression with their conceptual daring and strict aesthetic: we now long to know what Shinichiro Arakawa’s interpretation of the fourth dimension will be.
He counters this question with laughter.

    Emmanuel Bossuet for Anatomique, October 2000.

Menswear is designed by Raf Simons, womenswear is designed by Veronique Branquinho.

Thirty-three-year-old Schonberger is very careful in defining his own collections, everyone around him considers him an avant-garde designer, but for some reason he is not sure: 

So he’s an individual, but he doesn’t like being labeled like any normal person. Dirk Schonberger belongs to the famous Belgian design flow, well known by such names as Ann Demeulemeester, Dries van Noten, Walter van Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkembergs... Schonberger studied with Bikkembergs, now they work together and are close friends.

Schonberger is German. He was born in Cologne and studied in Florence at the Italian Fashion Academy. Florence, according to him, did not teach him anything but work in the fashion business, and did not advance creatively, which is why in 1992 they crossed paths with Bikkembergs.

Schonberger is very much loved by the Japanese. In the Land of the Rising Sun his clothes are presented in more than fifteen prestigious stores. The Japanese probably like his "mockery" of the traditional cut, turning regular menswear into the avant-garde.

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Clothing by Dirk Schönberger, footwear by Prada

Photo: Vladimir Glynin

Styling: Tatiana Baidakova

Jeff Griffin's autumn collection is dedicated to the village life of a urban man - this time the designer's favorite theme is compounded by the appearance of a horse dummy in the shooting promo, with which the characters communicate actively. Hounds and foxes depicted on sweaters and sweatshirts are separated (or united) by hearts on the back - symbols of love. The text advises drivers to slow down. Tweed appears - on trousers, jackets and as patches on elbows and shoulders. Shaggy camouflage trousers tucked into green rubber boots are added to the knitted "rustic" sweater. Griffin continues to develop his main design line, combining and reworking ideas borrowed from uniforms, work and sportswear. According to the tradition, the collection includes a series of "eternal" models with a patented Griffin cut - like a “Fish Mouth Jacket” with cleverly arranged hood to protect the chin from the cold, or a jacket that turns into a poncho. You should pay attention to the trousers with a special arched cut of the back facade, a double-sided jacket with khaki and camouflage and a jacket with width regulated by two straps on the back. A closer look reveals the content of camouflage patterns: on the lining and inside the pockets - prints depicting grass thickets, on sweaters and cardigans - packs of hunting dogs. The color scheme of the collection is khaki, green, shades of earth and withered grass, greenish-gray and gray-blue.

I was already in fashion because my father was working in textile, so when I was young I was playing with buttons. Nevertheless it's not specially because of my father that I decided to become a fashion designer. One day when I was in a club I saw a girl wearing a beautiful dress (certainly, from a designer), and I was surprised by the lines of the clothes, the attitude of this girl wearing this garment, and started to imagine how many possibilities we have in creating a garment. People express themselves through what they wear ‒ so every person has his own style, and so you can have lots of ways of creating things according to people's characters.

You define your workfield as «fashion» or otherwise?  

Otherwise. My own culture. I think my work lays in the middle between fashion and art.

I cannot create a collection without a subject. There is no garment without an idea.

I think, that's not so true. The roots are important, but the country culture has certainly a bigger influence than the roots. For me, personally, Japanese culture and history seem more important in my work than the roots. I don't have Yohji's or Rei Kawakubo's experience, so it's hard for me to say whether Japanese style exists or not. I don't have enough experience behind.

Autumn/Winter 1999/2000, "Exhibition of 25 Paintings"
Several works from this collection were purchased by the Musée Galliera, Paris museum, which promised to continue to follow the work of Arakawa.

In the best traditions of world nomads, Naoki Takizawa (head designer of Issey Miyake) mixes insulated suits for winter sports, strict civilian total black and Caucasian peasant clothes (including bashlyk and trousers tucked into woolen socks with galoshes). On the belt - not a small and flat container with Velcro a la Prada / Helmut Lang, but quite weighty “reporter” bag with pockets, a backpack behind the back, and a hood on the head. Light raincoat is one that covers from head to toe and fits in a pocket when folded. Sweatpants with phosphorescent stripes are peeking out from under it, below - black and red resistance boots. Or black and yellow. Or sneakers. Or classic black boots. Bright colors of sport suits are mixed with «earthy» natural colors. This character is ready for anything, feels at home everywhere, and seems to be a person not from here to everyone.