“Now’s the right time to explore the essence of making clothes”
— Yoshio Kubo’s New Challenge「いまこそ服づくりの本質を掘り下げたい」
久保嘉男のあらたな挑戦
A man who always seeks and pursues “expressions that no one has ever seen”. That’s the image I’ve always had of Yoshio Kubo, ever since I went to an exhibition of his back in 2004, in a small showroom in Ebisu on the West side of Tokyo. There he was, and like a child showing off his treasured toys, he gleefully introduced me to his collection.
Although it has become commonplace today, at that time hardly anyone was showing collection movies at exhibitions at the time. He had one shot by a friend and showed it to me with much pride. The film really captured his passion for making clothes. About 18 years have passed since then, but even now, when I visit his exhibitions, he asks for my impressions with a big smile as if to test my aesthetic sensibilities.
When you actually see the clothes up close, what is surprising is the extent to which they feature many unique patterns and details that are exclusive to him, thanks to having learned the techniques of haute couture during his early days. The overwhelming amount of passion put into making clothes is transmitted through each of the component parts. Kubo says that this season’s runway show will serve as a pivot point, and that he will review the presentation method and move to a new show location. In this interview, we spoke with designer Yoshio Kubo about his runway show at “by R”, which he says represents the culmination of his past works, and about his future vision, about which he says “I’m anxious, but I can’t help but look forward to it.”
What were your feelings immediately after the show ended?ショーを終えて率直な感想をお願いします。
I was able to pack a lot of the experience I’ve accumulated so far, including how to take the “pause” of the show, the music, and the way the models walk. Fashion shows are in essence a form of entertainment, so the impressions of the customers who watch them are everything. I felt satisfied that I did very well.
This was a show brimming with imagination. How did you arrive at these ideas?とてもイマジネーションに富んだショーでした。今回の構想に至る経緯とは？
It is significant that I was able to make clothes that were infused with creativity, due to using NFTs (non-fungible tokens), which I worked on for the first time last season. Looking through many dynamic presentations by fashion designers that I admired even before I became a fashion designer myself. That’s when I realized that I still haven’t been able to do the kind of presentation that I originally wanted to do. So, this time, in addition to the movie shown at Paris Men’s fashion week, I wanted to compose the show from a completely different perspective.
What do you mean by "different perspective"?まったく異なる切り口"の具体的な内容を教えて下さい。
The most obvious items are lion dance-inspired pieces and tulle items with Nio guardian statues as motifs. I’ve been making “clothes” that are well-arranged from the inside out, so it was refreshing to present such “costume-like clothes.” In that sense, the “by R” project that I participated in this time was a good opportunity to push the creativity as a form of a culmination of what I’ve done so far.
What do you mean by "culmination?""集大成"その言葉のもつ意味とは？
With so much information out there, it’s really difficult to differentiate oneself from other brands just through promotions like runway shows. That’s why we have to rethink the basics of making clothes and adopt a new approach to our creative process. So, I wanted to distance myself from the routine fashion cycle of making samples, doing shows, and holding exhibitions, and the whole existing brand business. I want to delve deeper into fashion from the essential point of making clothes. I will never stop making clothes, of course. However, I would like to appeal to a completely different way of selling and showing. Brands have to be cool enough to be exposed everywhere, from high to low.
Please tell us what to look out for in the "hitodama" collection「hitodama/人魂」コレクションについて、見てほしいポイント教えてください。
The point I wanted to express this time is my own creativity and technical skill. I wondered if I could make an outfit with several layers for the spring & summer season, and when I went and organdie together, the appearance of the garment looked like a ghost. I imagined that it would be interesting if there were clothes that everyone would be horrified by. Haunted houses are an easy-to-understand example: even though you know they’re scary, you still want to go inside. The collection expresses the psychology of people who want to see such unnerving things.
That intention was apparent through the thin strip of cloth that divided the runway into two.薄い布でランウェイを2つに仕切ったショーの演出にもその意図が感じられますね。
Yes, the director of the show interpreted my vision very well this time.
まさにそうです。演出の方にも今回のイメージをよく汲んでいただけました。
In terms of techniques, the horn-like details on the jacket and pants were impressive.技術的な面では、ジャケットやパンツに施されていた角のようなディテールが印象的でした。
That is the motif of the flame design drawn in the paintings of demons at shrines. It is often used in Ukiyo-e. It may be a shape that the Japanese have revered for a long time. However, it is very difficult to make that motif into a structure, so I put a triangular mesh panel in the middle of two pieces of fabric to create a three-dimensional shape. I thought that, instead of making it stand up, making it droop could give it a more fashionable edge.
The "SHIRANGANA" embroidered on a T-shirt is also very meaningful.Tシャツに刺繍した「SHIRANGANA」も意味深ですね。
It’s a pretty serious message to say “I don’t know fashion anymore”. I hit the center of the tape with a sewing machine to sew it to the body, and that’s one of the techniques I want you to take a closer look at. The Osaka dialect is part of my origin, and it sounds very direct and funny, right? This time, the point is that standard items are casually combined with elaborate details, and the answers to the problem of “how to be elaborate” are concealed in the parts that are hard to see.
I'm interested to know the reason behind you expressing a Japanese concept for the past several seasons. What was the trigger for that?ここ数シーズン、和をコンセプトにした発表が続いた理由も気になるところです。そのきっかけとは？
In the early days, I didn’t have the idea of using Japan as a theme. I didn’t really like to appeal to my roots in Japan amid the “Western” culture of clothes. But I guess age is also part of it. Don’t you feel like you want to explore your roots as you get older? I was surprised to realize that I didn’t really know anything about Japan, even though I should have gained a lot of knowledge. Since then, I have been studying and interpreting Japanese culture in my own warped kind of way.
It seems that your roots have a strong impact on your creators. Please tell me about specific creators that have had an influence on you.ご自身のルーツがクリエーションに大きく反映されているようですね。影響を受けたクリエイターなどいれば教えてください。
I like contemporary artist Matthew Barney. When I started working in New York, I didn’t have much money at the time, so I often visited galleries, and I wanted to someday make things like the creators whose works were displayed there. Barney’s unique view of the world that transcends the understanding of the viewer has been a source of admiration for me ever since, and it still has a great influence on my clothes making.
What kind of way does it link with your clothes making?どういうところが久保さんの服づくりとリンクするのでしょう？
It’s still a long way off for me, but it’s the way he has thought through every last inch of the video and designed it. His video work ends without the ordinary sense of having watched a movie, but when you start to imagine the kind of ideas that went into crafting this kind of movie, and envision a world beyond what we can see with our eyes, it reminds you of just how much effort went into them.
What do you think about making clothes in the future?久保さんの考えるこれからの服づくりとは？
From now on, I would like to express the inspiration I feel at that time just as it is, without being too stiff. Rather than the yoshiokubo brand, I want to expose Yoshio Kubo the man himself. And I want to create clothes that will remain in the future, that people will treasure 10 or even 20 years from now.
Finally, could you give us a word about Rakuten's project to support Japanese fashion brands "by R", please?最後に、楽天による日本のファッションブランドを支援するプロジェクト「by R」について、一言お願いします。
I hope that being selected for “by R” will be a gateway to success for designers, like “proof of being a full-fledged person”. I hope that it will continue to be the pinnacle event for connecting Japanese creatives to the future.
