[haoshcn]

I love them, all of them. Junya is really a genius. Looking at such beautiful artworks is what makes our life meaningful and rewarding, isn't it?

[travolta]

^ those cocoon pieces are made from light weight polyester created by heat sealing all the layers. i really wish he could sell a more pared down, more affordable version of those pieces -- they would really be a hit!

[Mutterlein]

I look back at designers like Dior and Balenciaga and if you really study fashion history you see how radical and progressive their work was (especially Balenciaga). There aren't a whole lot of designers who are pushing technique, porportion, and the conventional concept of a garment like they did (C.B. more than C.D). Watanabe is their most apparent contemporary. He has the same esotericism but masterful intrigue Balenciaga had, managing to keep it all well grounded within contemporary tastes. He goes even further taking modern sensitivites regarding ornamention, porportion, and garment history and treating them as abstract tools. His end products are clothes so unimaginable but at the same time very natural and very "right". He also keeps the spirit of couture but again with a more modern sense. His use of technique is as innovative as it gets, progressive but utterly elegant. His direction and his values are what modern couture should be about, not theatrical and lead heavy historical remakes from Dior, Lacroix, and even Chanel. Unfortunately unlike Dior Or Balenciaga, he doesn't enjoy international acclaim at the same level. You won't catch Nicole Kidman strutting the red carpet in the latest Watanabe or Uma Thurman peddling his goods in an advertisment, but I suppose he is able to keep his integrity that way. To me he is truly "the master of us all".

[MulletProof]

I was browsing this old thread and realised there are many pictures that have unfortunately become unavailable, and while it's easier to have runway pictures these days, it seems to have also gotten harder to find sites that keep an archive of 'older' collections.

I'll try to post some of the pics I saved years ago (unfortunately I did not save it all.. don't know what I was thinking ).

Junya Watanabe F/W 00







[firstview.com]


One of my all-time favorites, if not the ultimate favorite for me. I remember starting at that red/rose dress when I saw it in a magazine, I must've been 13/14, just about to dive deep into the world of designers.. it conjured so many doubts I had about fashion, the reason people created clothes, 'wearability'.. I was really intrigued by it to say the least, it was such a fascinating collection.

[luckyme]

mullet, so grateful to you for reviving this thread. could you feel my heart skip a beat? sometimes i do searches with the hope of finding images such as these but its always a dead end...just so you know i really appreciate your efforts and can feel the visual tweak that set you off on this journey at the impressionable age of 13.

[MulletProof]

^ add to that the fact that fashion equaled chloé by stella or dior by galliano in my world. yee haw.

Thank you .. I thought I had saved more, but 8 pics is all I've got and I can't find a way to access any archive, so disappointing. Wishing r0b0t still cared about fashion.

[user500]

^me as well, i wished there were a big archive with all the 90ies collections.

i found a few pics which i had saved.


firstview

[user500]

from the exhibition 'future beauty' at the barbican

thecoolture.com
tess-savina.blogspot.com
leemawdsley.co.uk

[jgyn]

These are insanely beautiful.

[Scott]

completely agree about that image search on archival stuff. i can never seem to reconnect with much of the older catwalk stuff. thankfully there have been some tumblr sites and blogs that have surprised me with never to be seen stuff which sent my heart aflutter. those wonderful tumblr pages that la bordelique posted in the jurgi persoons thread have been a treasure for me.

and how astoundingly beautiful was junya in those days? although his work has got more and more organic in concept,i do miss the sheer velocity of power he could inspire from his work in the late 90's and early "noughties".

thanks to my girl

btw,13 and obsessed with stella and galliano? that's better than i at 13. i was mostly into trendy NY designers at that age....i was obsessed with anna sui. it wasn't till 96 that expanded my horizons and became a bit more interested in lang and sander. they paved the way for me.

[runner]

I might have some more images saved in another pc or something.
will have to check later.

btw, label under construction was involved somewhere in the earlier 00's, around 03 if I remember rightly.



S/S 00
F/W 00 ( plus invite)
S/S 01

catwalking
shiseido

[runner]

F/ W 01

.

[runner]

S/ S 02

.

[runner]

....

[runner]

.....