Yohji Yamamoto V&A Exhibition 24/03/11

Today, as a group we decided to visit the Yohji Yamamoto exhibition at the V&A museum.

The exhibition was truly inspiring- not only has it demonstrated the idea of radical design and the levels of extreme ‘fashion’ can reach, it has also given me the chance to see the true forms of something which explores out of ‘body’ context. Though internet and book research are vital aspects in our research process, it never demonstrates the volume and size of each piece. Going to this exhibition has made me appreciated the work even more- the size, the volume, the attention to detail, the concept and the fabrics/ finishing’s are all very inspiring points which I should look into. Reading through the review and description of Yamamoto as a designer, I find his boundary breaking character so encouraging. I aspire to be a designer of such creativity and integrity

There are many parts to this exhibition – the clothes, the accessories, the collaborations with other designers, the catwalk videos, the installations and the use of film and theatre work.

Of all, I find the idea of film the most interesting. In one specific work, he was commissioned by a puppet theatre production to design clothes for the puppets. In reverse, each character was designed to suit the garments, and in response, each character’s personality run parallels to the clothes they are wearing. In this case – life was created based on ‘fashion’. I especially like the fact he used film to document this. Could I use film to control a concept?

To compare- my work and research methods are all based on a few words I ‘designed’ at the beginning of the project- will my final outcome represent these words?

In this, I also learnt that use of material is too very important factors to the characters of each piece of work. He quoted

‘’ 'Fabric is everything. Often I tell my pattern makers, "Just listen to the material. What is it going to say? Just wait. Probably the material will tell you something ‘’

When I design- what am I trying to achieve? How can I use it to its full potential? With lesson on the importance of material, I strongly agree I should calmly understand each matter carefully before proceeding further. If this material was to be a car- what car will it best suit? Think properties of it !!!

Things I have captured from this exhibition

○       Importance of material

All images on page taken from V&A
exhibition website

○       Make life evolve around the concept and not the other way round

○       The past is as important as the present and future, document this in film?

○       Think scale and type- Will it work in a bigger scale- will it still work if different?

○       Is it a moving piece or can it stay stationary?

○       Like tradition- is it eternal, or can it be changed? How can something be developed to make tradition shine again

○       The skies the limit – start breaking some rules

○       Think out of the box, go extreme, there is nothing called wrong, only an experience

Another thing I’ve Noticed in Yamaoto’s work is the loyalty to tradition. Shibori and Yuzen are both very traditional Japanese dyeing techniques, and he uses them to demonstrate his origin and route. With such strong representation, I am so inspired in the way he uses these traditions in his work to modernise ‘Japans’ most treasured knowledge. In a a way- i should also pull through old forgotten knowledge to 'modernise' the creation.

Exhibition is really worth going, so if u have the time- please do- its so inspiring !