There is a striking contradiction in the work of Akira Isogawa: the Japanese designer loves ancient silks and techniques going from spinning and weaving to dyeing and creating pieces inspired by the history of his native country. Yet he has thrived in a country more widely known for its passion for dynamic modern lifestyles and functional clothes - Australia.
Isogawa is actually part of a wave of Australian designers who contributed to transform the nation's view of fashion. It seems only natural then for the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney to celebrate him with an exhibition, focusing on the 25th anniversary of his career.
Born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1964, Isogawa was fascinated by traditional attires like the kimonos his parents would wear for special occasions, but he was also attracted as a teenager by contemporary Japanese designers such as Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo.
In 1986 Isogawa moved to Australia where he studied fashion design at the Sydney Institute of Technology, graduating in 1993.
He made friends with Christiane Lehmann and together they worked with Jac Vidgen and his Recreational Arts Team on the Sydney's RAT Parties. Isogawa used to make costumes for these parties (the designs were later bought by the Powerhouse Museum).
The designer had his big break in the mid-'90s when he brought back from Kyoto old family kimonos and started deconstructing them to make dresses from the aged silk of their linings.
For the designer this was a revelatory process as kimonos may be characterised by neutral or somber shades, but their linings are usually filled with bright colours that only the wearer can see.
This process of slicing open the garment was symbolical as it hinted at the designer opening up to new influences, but it was also the proof of his interest in innovative tailoring techniques that could radically transform a garment, and reinvent the fabrics it was made with and the decorative motifs such as the embroideries that embellished it.
Isogawa experimented with more kimonos from the Kyoto flea markets and eventually developed a personal signature mix based on Japanese traditions, but inspired by Australian contemporary lifestyle.
When in 1997 Naomi Campbell appeared on the cover of Vogue Australia wearing one of Isogawa's dresses made from an old family kimono and, after he presented his first collection during Australian Fashion Week in Sydney, the designer started attracting the interest of international buyers.
As the years passed Isogawa became part of the local scene, showcasing his collections at the Australian Fashion Week and also creating costumes for the Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Ballet and designing new uniforms for the members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
He applied to his costume that same passion for combining the East with the West that he injected in his main pieces: some of the costumes he created for a 2011 representation of "Romeo & Juliet" by the Australian Ballet borrowed from Italian Renaissance, samurai armours, but also contemporary modern fashion.
Technique remained a key element in Isogawa's practice: he became known for his clever garment constructions, fabric manipulations and passion for quirky colour combinations (his bridal gowns go from more traditional white or ivory to alternative shades like black).
He won the heart of many famous fans, among them actor Cate Blanchett, who describes his designs in the volume accompanying the exhibition (Akira Isogawa: Unfolding a Life in Fashion by Akira Isogawa with Georgina Safe, published by Thames & Hudson) as "precious works of art".
Isogawa is indeed more about style than about fashion and passing trends; he rejects the fast rhythms of the industry supporting sustainability and buying fewer and better timeless pieces and doesn't like competing with other designers.
Opening today and running through June 2019 at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney (part of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences - MAAS), "Akira Isogawa" explores the story of the designer from his early years in Kyoto to his life in Sydney.
The event features garments from Isogawa's archive (many of them acquired into the MAAS collection), plus photographs, sketches and memorabilia.
Besides, the exhibition is accompanied by a series of events and workshops inviting visitors to discover more about a wide variety of techniques employed by Isogawa including embroidery, beading, patterning, print design and heat-set shibori (you can check out the full programme of events here).
There's plenty to see for the fans, but the exhibition is also an occasion to get to know the designer for those visitors who may not be familiar with his work as it is conceived as a journey into his practice from the early days on.
The oldest design is a silk top rescued by friend and collaborator Christiane Lehmann, but one of the highlights is a dress characterised by a simple asymmetrical silhouette, and made with an embroidered and beaded kimono.
Australian fashion editor Marion Hume called it "the dress that saved Sydney", a moniker that refers to a rather uninteresting Australian Fashion Week showcase in 1999 that became memorable for Hume and the other international buyers attending only for Isogawa's designs.
There are also romantic costumes for the Sydney Dance Company on display and plenty of pieces that allow to study classic drapes and pleated elements, intricate shibori knots, vegetable dyes and fibres and seductive colours like deep full erotic reds and their meaning for the designer.
In the '90s Isogawa prepared indeed a runway show, but, not having the money for the shoes, he ended up sending his models down the runway in thick red socks that became a sort of trademark, and a tangible proof that the designer may have been low on resources but was high on resourcefulness and always ready to find last minute solutions.
The pieces on display at the Powerhouse Museum are extremely different one from the other, and quite often unique as they are made with exquisite and rare kimonos, but they share something: though based on traditional fabrics and techniques, they are characterised by a modern construction, they are seasonless and timeless and therefore created to stay forever in all sorts of wardrobes. After all, as Akira Isogawa states in a press release for the exhibition," As a designer, I want to make things that are emotionally or spiritually connected to people".
All images in this post courtesy of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney
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