How long is the journey from idea to product, from inspiration to execution? How does an image change when it crosses from photography to fashion, such that memory becomes a new experience?
Mihara Yasuhiros's Fall 2009 collection, entitled Left and Right, was born from the concept of travel, culling cultural associations from both the objects and roads involved in ancient trade, particularly between the East and the West.
I have decided to juxtapose Yasuhiro's clothes with images of nature and human habitation - from Tibet, the Himalayas, and Everest, to hunting in the woods with snow dogs and huskies, and trailed by wolves - to give them a sense of place and perhaps revive the history behind ideas.
Notice how these two suits in beige and black have a worn-in quality, almost as if their wearers were really on board cross-continental trains and have, at their point of destination, engaged business partners in trade.
The fabrics somehow resemble linen but look so light and thin that for certain synthetics have been blended in. Also observe the lace-ups, which are studded like Miuccia Prada's in her Fall 2009 collection. Yasuhiro's are better though because the studs are scattered and not placed in a geomtrical pattern.
The runway has been carpeted with sand, which, though used for a practical purpose, nevertheless simultaneously conjures images of both desert and glacier.
This three-piece suit (is that a silk scarf underneath the vest?) is all about the enigma of departure and arrival.
A jaded and perhaps coked out modern Prince Hamlet. (The play, after all, is set in wintry Denmark.)
Now this, I don't know how to explain...but the pair of images works. What's underneath looks like a combination of a vest and a Chinese-collared shirt.
Gray and pink plaid dotted with black and white is no different from winter blossoms, with petals falling on ice-caked soil.
The black pieces have a sheen similar to leather or the hair of horses. The vest is interesting, as its turned up collar makes way for the brown scarf, but I am somehow stumped in figuring out how the silk chocolate brown shirt has the effect of providing a second scarf. Maybe it's really just the magnificently thin silk.
Trust me, there is something else in common with this ensemble and the geyser besides the color pink.
What kind of fabric is this, which looks like a cross between paper and wool? Weathered flannel? The ribbon belt adds an interesting effect. Strange, but with the metalware I am reminded of the world of Charles Dickens.
Wonderful jacket and scarves (or is the top one part of the jacket?) This outfit unexpectedly works with the cargo pants. This time the necklace is becoming of a gypsy.
Is this just one or two coats? Why does it billow? Or, like in the next image, does the outer piece have a long cape that is swooped and worn over the shoulder? Any which way they are brilliant. Notice how the wool sweaters have been purposely made threadbare in certain parts?
The front part of this jacket mimics the shape scarves takes when they peek under vests.
Is this coat made of silk? The layering is fantastic. Would have been great to view the yellow backpack.
If dirty snow white can be a color, this would be it. Now if this coat was also made of silk, I wonder how one could keep warm?
This coat looks almost transparent. Everything just goes well with this outift: the colors, the varying textures of the cardigan and its buttons, the cropped jeans, the coat, and the combination of scarves.
Two lessons here: ripping stripes can give them a second life and, worn in layers with different lengths, they can bring consistency to an outfit.
The cardigan and the shirt both look wild - in terms of the cut and the fabrics used.
I'm sure Martha Stewart never thought of that.
Drop-crotch pants in pajama/long johns material. This silky scarf that almost looks like rags in tatters adds edge to bulkier fabrics.
Leave poets alone with their studded bags and drop-crotch pants.
The scarf meets the poncho.
The silk coat can't help but glimmer. Notice the length of the cardigan.
Apparently, this can be worn inside or out.
Three scarves + black flower brooch + drop-crotch pants + floppy hat all in monochrome = an ancestor of Hedi Slimane's Dior Homme. (Or is it just the model?)
This could have been two single-breasted suits sewn together. The layering is amazing. So is the placing of the brooch.
I see two marbled shirts, a tuxedo coat, and a towel-like apron. Mountain folk going baroque?
Would love to see these boots in detail. Also the pattern of the shirt.
What a journey indeed this collection has been.