On November 9th and 10th, fashionistas flocked to Ueno Park for UENOYES 2019/FLOATING NOMAD. All eyes were on the opening night’s headline event, a riveting fashion held show by Japanese brand writtenafterwards. Directed by fashion designer Yoshikazu Yamagata, the show, titled After All, was in a sense three years in the making, as it offered a comprehensive window into the label’s three-part collection begun in 2018, exploring the “21st century witch.” No sooner had the sun dipped beyond the horizon than Ueno Park transformed into a magical, avant-garde catwalk, under the watchful gaze of the fashion world’s curatorial movers and shakers, all in the shadows of the Tokyo National Museum.
A fashion show tailored for Ueno, a fluid hub of international culture
Announced by a burst of late-autumn wind and pulsating bass, a black-cloaked procession appears through an atmospheric brew of red light and white smoke. Eschewing the broomstick of yore, the fashion show thus opened with a conceptual collection embodying ethereal styles for the fashion-conscious “modern witch.” The runway seemingly floated in midair, stretching out through the fountain plaza to bewitching effect, as the models’ reflections beckoned onlookers into a transfixing, fantastical netherworld.
We spoke with designer Yoshikazu Yamagata regarding the connection between writtenafterwards and Ueno:
“I began with the question of ‘spatiality,’ and asked what defined Ueno as a place. I felt that Ueno is a confluent junction of cultures and peoples who traverse great distances to serendipitously intersect here before continuing on their journeys. I sought to express this nomadic essence, and chose ‘Floating Nomad’ as the theme for UENOYES. The theme reflects my hope that Ueno will continue to function as a melting pot that brings together a diverse range of people. I felt the location itself had an extra significance, and was conscious of what it meant to hold our fashion show in Ueno.”
Where art meets fashion
A trichromatic meditation on red, white, and black, the collection proved a breathtaking parade of surprises and soaring creativity. From dresses and suits in variously-sized check prints, to voluminously sculptural garments, oversized headwear with a skeletal rose motif, and dramatically scaled hats poised to swallow up the wearer, the innovative creations melded art and fashion with bravado, challenging our accepted notions of women’s wear.
As Yamagata explains:
“All the pieces are imbued with qualities that reflect both fashion and art. I think you can’t merely have one or the other, but rather, need both to express something compelling. Historically speaking, fashion and art have always overlapped. For example, consider the Blombos Cave, in South Africa. Archaeologists examined the site and discovered an ochre pigment that is thought to have been used as body paint. In other words, humans have sought to ‘outfit’ themselves for over 70,000 years. In many ways, we have an innate artistic impulse, with our bodies as one of the first canvases. I tend to seek the essence of things, and trace meaning back to its source. In this sense, I don’t see such a large divide between fashion and art, but rather consider them to be intrinsically interrelated modes of expression.”
A timely message for a factious age
Illuminated by the faint glow of a crescent moon, the engrossingly narrative show swelled toward its grand finale around the 20-minute mark. Saddling bulky forms symbolizing parcels of luggage, the models glided across the waterfront runway to the mellifluous refrain of Imjin River, as performed in Japanese by South Korean singer-songwriter Lang Lee. Depicting a divided homeland, the traditional folk song echoed the models’ solemn procession, representing migrants crossing rivers and oceans in search of another land. Staggered spacing between groups of models suggested the factional divisions that have come to define our modern era.
“At one point, the world seemed to be heading in the direction of unity. But over the past decade, there’s been a foreboding sense that those old divisions are deepening once again. I think fashion is uniquely suited to articulating this unsettling sense of separatism and conflict, in an indirect, abstract way. For this show, we enlisted a truly international group of models, hailing from as far afield as Japan, Korea, China, India, and Mongolia. Looking back through the annals of history, I took a cue from the Silk Road, and sought to express the cultural connections that have long linked East and West.”
Text: Mayumi Yawataya Photos: Kuniko Hirano
UENOYES 2019／FLOATING NOMAD writtenafterwards Fashion Show
Date: Saturday, November 9th, 2019 Time: 5:00 p.m. Venue: Ueno Park (Takenodai Plaza adjacent to the Grand Fountain） Event website: https://uenoyes.ueno-bunka.jp/2019
