Junya Watanabe's 21st Century So Far

[travolta]

great images..so tactile

 

[MulletProof]

...

 

[MulletProof]

thank you, travolta

i'd like to add..this is pure beauty

 

[travolta]

^ are those grommets? fantastic! how clever..they look like jewels

 

[faust]

thanks, droogist. i've been looking for those denim collections pix forever. it's one of my favorite collections.

 

[.francesca]

ooh mulletproof..that last picture is amazing! this stuff breaks my

 

[meme527]

now i remember what 'the fashion spot" is all about!

thank you mullet for making my morning!!!

meme

 

[MulletProof]

you're all welcome

this is what was left to post anyway...

 

[travolta]

i found two short videos of the s/s 2004 collection

http://www.gallerianeo.com/video.html

 

[travolta]

i also found an article and short slideshow from 1996....

http://edition.cnn.com/STYLE/9607/27/watanabe/

 

[Buckwheat]

So here I am digging through all my old magazines again...and I found these beautiful pictures that I forgot about

just want to share with you all...they are really beautiful pictures and dresses (I tried my best to adjust the color already...hope they show up alright...I guess you can click on each pic for an enlarge view)

scanned from Dune magazine (#20 2000)

here's the credit page first

 

[Buckwheat]

here are the pics

 

[Buckwheat]

and the last 2

 

[calexico]

^
buckwheat those are some amazing scans...
i'd love to get a hold of that issue for myself...
wow.
esp. the last two... they are exquisite...
like a cocoon for the human form...
in my perfect world we would run around dressed like this everyday...
encased and gently wrapped in these beautiful forms...

 

[softgrey]

thanks buckwheat...

this whole thread is beautiful...

 

[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!

 

[Deleted member 7575]

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.