Controversial copyright cases come to mind whenever you mention in the same sentence the words "law" and "fashion". Yet law and legal matters or legal documents can lead to great fashionable inspirations and installations, rather than just litigation, as proved by Shinsuke Nakano.
A graduate of the Fashion MA Womenswear course at Central St Martins in London and a recipient of the Sarabande scholarship, Nakano is currently working on a Practice-based Research Program (PhD/MPhil) in art and design at Central St Martins.
At the moment there is an installation by Nakano in one of the CSM Window Galleries, entitled "Reframing Technics - Witness to the will of Mark Sayer, a tailor in Arundel St London, 1761".
The installation is based on the will (the legal document) made by 18th century tailor Mark Sayer, whose shop was located in Arundel Street, London. His will was witnessed in 1761 by two gentlemen, Thomas Tomkyns and Robert Mylne (the latter was one of the tailor's regular clients).
For the artist and designer making the garments that compose the installation hints at the act of remembering: Nakano recreates indeed the event by applying to 18th century menswear tailcoats prints of the will and of the tailor's letters, day books and memorandum inherited and survived until today.
The dummies look as if they were engaged in a some kind of solemn and formal talk, and each actor involved in the scene is characterised by a unique garment: the dummy representing the tailor wears a tailcoat completely covered in prints; in the other cases, the printed documents are only replicated on the front or on one sleeve of the designs, almost to indicate that the documents are "transmitted" to the two gentlemen involved who acknowledge the will, turning into official witnesses.
The installation shows not just the tailoring skills of the designer, but also his passion for researching history, finding an unknown story in archives and libraries and creating his own fashion narrative based around it. Who could have thought that the theme of legal documents could have been so interesting when transferred to a fashionable installation?
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