Moriyama x Takizawa Talk

Went to see a panel discussion by Issey Miyake designer Naoki Takizawa and well known photographer Daido Moriyama. The main topic of discussion was their recent collaboration on a fashion shoot Novembre done just this past November in Paris.

Moriyama-san was very blase about the whole thing, but he did seem to express a lot of pleasure in having been able to work on something new to him. And Noaki Takizawa was impressively well-spoken -- to the point where it strained my good, but apparently still limited Japanese ability just trying to follow the details of what he was saying. I was particularly happy to hear him comment on what he perceived as a recent shift in Japanese thinking about fashion. He claimed that while in the past, the commonly held view was that a woman's body exists for the purpose of clothes, this is no longer the case and Japanese women are starting to try and express themselves more and more through their body with clothes selected to complement their bodies. (Quite a sensible change if you ask me.) He claimed that the growing popularity of fitness clubs, body modification (piercings, tatoos, etc..) reflected this trend.

Another interesting point that he brought up to help clarify things for a number of the young designers in the audience was that there is more than one starting point in the creative process, starting from a vision and moving it towards reality, or starting with reality and moving it towards your vision.

Quite heady stuff.

Comments

[Joyce]

"He claimed that the growing popularity of fitness clubs, body modification (piercings, tatoos, etc..) reflected this trend"

I absolutely agreed with this statement. When I imagine how much HK women spend on fitness club and body care stuff that also reflect how much women want themshelves to look good with whatever they wear. On the other hand, they also want the clothes they put on being perfectly matched with their figures and style. Japanese women are even more involved in such activities compared with HK women. Korean women are also the important sector in this area too. Cheers! :P