The late Los Angeles artist Channa Horwitz is famous for her motto "Limiting your choices gives you power". In the mid-'60s Horwitz started working on a series of compositions characterised by complex and iterative patterns, numeric progressions that allowed her to notate time, rhythm and movement, and geometric figures.
In some of her works, such as the series entitled "Canon" currently on display at the 55th International Venice Art Biennale, she also experimented with the precision of simple geometric patterns forming lace-like compositions.
Thoughout her career she also limited herself to using eight colours: Horowitz claimed all these limitations gave her the freedom she needed to find her own language and discover a degree of flexibility in her abstract yet rigorous compositions.
Horowitz called her method "Sonakinatography", a neologism denoting sound, motion and notation and that served as the basis for performances in dance, music, light and film.
Unbeknownst to them, Shumpei Okamoto and Andrea Nieto from the School of Fashion at San Francisco's Academy of Art University followed Horowitz's "Limiting your choices" mantra while creating their collection, showcased in May during the school's graduation fashion show (watch the video here).
Entitled “Neo-Fast Fashion”, the collection created by this fashion and textile design team, moved from one single concept, a single all-in-one-piece pattern. The latter actually ended up liberating the duo from restrictions while preventing them from falling into the easy trap of overcomplicated patterns.
Nieto's intricate geometric compositions printed on the neoprene garments endowed Okamoto's simple yet futuristic forms with an unexpected modern sensuousness.
Can you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Shumpei Okamoto: I was born in Toyota city, Japan. I went to De Anza College and studied History of Art. I am currently based in San Francisco, but moving out to New York in September to intern at Yigal Azrouel.
Andrea Nieto: I'm from Cali, Colombia. I'm not a senior yet but I was in the graduation fashion show. I'm a textile design major and I will be graduating in May 2014 from AAU. I'm interested in modern fabrics, fabric treatments and processes. I'm planning to attend grad school for a masters in Textile Technology.
What's the most important thing you learnt from your years at AAU?
Shumpei Okamoto: Designing is not expressing the creative world based on one's selfish ego, but always deals with the huge responsibility of suggesting the future; never forget to question your existence in this society; be brave enough to sometimes deny what you see and taking risk is the only way to gain freedom of creativity!
Andrea Nieto: I have learned that having a unique style, doing things differently and working hard don't go unnoticed. It's key not to just have talent but to be professional and be on time.
How did you feel at showcasing your collection at the Academy of the Arts fashion show?
Shumpei Okamoto: It was a great honor to show in such a big venue. It was really important to see the clothes on the models walking because the designs were all about movement.
Andrea Nieto: It was a great experience because I'm only a junior. It was also a challenge because all the other students had a year to work on their collection but Shumpei Okamoto and I only had a month. More than anything it feels really good to see how people react to your designs and bring something new to the fashion world.
Is there an artist/designer who inspires you?
Shumpei Okamoto: Not specifically, for this collection. But there are two great artists that conceptually inspire me: Jan Svankmajer and Gordon Matta Clark. I feel these two artists have something in common that is also closely related to the way I work. My focus on the body and the act of re-balancing the 5 senses in my designs derive from them.
Andrea Nieto: I'm inspired by concepts and notions more than by the works of specific artists. I try to create original work and the best way for me is to get inspired by an idea or concept that has no visuals and then build and create from there.
Why is the collection entitled "Neo-Fast Fashion"?
Shumpei Okamoto: Because it is about producing ready-to-wear collections at a faster pace than fast-fashion retailers using an all-in-one-piece pattern. Employing only one pattern allows you indeed to create any kind of garments in less than 30 minutes.
What inspired the futuristic shapes of the garments?
Shumpei Okamoto: There was no specific inspiration. All the shapes came from the process of dealing with the limitations of the all-in-one-piece pattern.
Andrea Nieto: They also referenced the abstract notion of today's world that deals with nature and technology. The main inspiration for my textiles was the modern world that we live in. My textile prints reflect a dichotomy and an agreement between the organic and the technological.
What about the geometric patterns that decorate the designs, what fascinates you about geometry?
Shumpei Okamoto: I told my textile collaborator, Andrea, about the mood I wanted to carry through my collection, and she came up with the designs. I showed her some works from Jan Svankmajer, and told her that I wanted to inject in the collection a futuristic mood, using primitive shapes and symbols.
Andrea Nieto: Geometry exists everywhere in nature and it's the guidelines and grid of our world. It is important to me to create my designs in accordance with some powerful energy that exist in the universe and proportions and geometry give my designs a sense of beauty and harmony.
Did you find any stages of your collaboration difficult or challenging?
Shumpei Okamoto: It was not difficult at all, but it was really challenging. Since my pattern was 2-4 times bigger than the maximum printable size, Andrea needed to find a way to print on such a huge pattern without making any gaps. Everytime my pattern slightly changed the size, we needed to discuss how we could work it out again. That means we had to start over and over again so many times...
Andrea Nieto: This collaboration was great and it really helped me understanding that teamwork is key. As I said, Shumpei and I only had a month, so communication is what kept our work coherent.
What are your future plans?
Shumpei Okamoto: I am going to finish up my class at Academy during summer and move to New York in Fall to intern at Yigal Azrouel. Hopefully, in the future, I would like to have my own line and present mypersonal vision of the future.
Andrea Nieto: I'm now interning at BCBG in LA and I will go back to San Francisco in the fall to continue my studies. I will keep working on fabric treatments and I hope to work for a company that focuses on innovation and new technology in the textile area.
Images of Shumpei Okamoto and Andrea Nieto's collection in this post by Randy Brooke/WireImage
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