Acid Blossoms: Mika Ninagawa Vs Ginie C.Y. Huang |

If you like contemporary photography and love bright colours you may be familiar with the work of Mika Ninagawa.

One of Japan’s most acclaimed photographers and locally considered as a sort of culture icon thanks to record breaking exhibitions held in Tokyo and in the rest of the country (even though she is getting known also in the West thanks to exhibitions in trendy places in Europe such as Paris' Colette), Ninagawa mainly creates art and fashion images characterised by her trademark vivid and saturated colours and by dreamy atmospheres.

Her portfolio may feature a few celebrities and Japanese stars, but the photographer seems to be more taken by images of flowers or goldfish, shots from her travelling experiences and portraits of models, all drenched in vibrant shades. In some cases her pictures of flowers, insects and fish, hit the retina with their pinks, blood reds and greens, looking unreal, almost alien.

The photographer has also got some interesting connections with fashion: in 2008 she collaborated with brand Shu Uemura on its Holiday collection.

Two years before that collaboration, in 2006, Ninagawa, whose father is a film director and producer, while her mother and cousin are actresses, also released her first feature film. Entitled Sakuran and based on the eponymous manga series by writer, illustrator, journalist and beauty expert Moyoco Anno and with a screenplay by Tanada Yuki, the film is an explosion of colours and a visual trip through the life of a young girl sold to a brothel in the red-light district of Yoshiwara. This year Ninagawa released another film, Helter Skelter, this time taken from Kyôko Okazaki's manga, while Sakuran also spawned a while back a beauty collection by Shu Uemura based on cherry blossom pinks and reads and accompanied by an advert shot by Ninagawa and featuring Japanese actress and model Yu Yamada.

In a way it is easy to understand why Mika Ninagawa makes a good inspiration for a fashion collection such as that of Academy of Art University graduate Ginie C.Y. Huang. Born and raised in Taiwan, Huang earned a BA in Business Administration from Taipei National University before moving to the Academy of Art University to pursue an MFA degree in Fashion Design. Her work was previously shown at the university's Spring 2012 Mercedes Benz fashion week show as part of the Italian Trade Commission collection.

Huang's Spring/Summer 2013 colletion was inspired by Ninagawa's works and in particular by the feelings that her images evoke.

Just like Ninagawa's pictures are based on her artistic sense, the young designer's collection is based on a visual impact: even though she added a tailored touch to her jackets and suits, the young designer favoured bright colours and feathery embellishments that called to mind in their movements the translucent fins of Ninagawa's unmistakeable bright goldfish swimming in a bowl in Sakuran or the soft petals of her chrysanthemums in the wind.

I'm embedding in this post Ninagawa's advert for Shu Uemura and the trailers for Sakuran and Helter Skelter: hopefully their colours will inspire you and let the weekend begin on a visually bright note.