In yesterday's posts we mentioned some of the Japanese inspirations of the late designer Kansai Yamamoto, including the yakko, a caricature of a Japanese warrior, often featured on masks in Japanese Kabuki theatre, and samurai.
Among the designs inspired by samurai warriors that Kansai Yamamoto created for David Bowie there is also the "Space Samurai" jumpsuit.
Similar to the "Tokyo Pop" suit for its shape, this creation was based on the hakama, traditional Japanese men's trousers worn under the kimono, but it was made of quilted metallic black, red and blue material.
Apart from the shape, also the construction of the garment was inspired by Japanese traditions. Silver snaps ran from the tops of the sleeves to the cuffs, allowing the wearer to change the costume really quickly.
This feature linked the "Samurai Suit" to the Hayagawari (早替り, "quick change") in the kabuki theatre.
This was done using strings that could pull off or pull apart a top layer of costume to reveal another costume underneath. In the hikinuki technique the outermost layer is held on with only a few threads that are pulled by stage assistants allowing this outer costume layer to come off quickly and easily.
In the case of David Bowie, who donned the "Space Samurai" suit at a concert in 1974, Yamamoto's costume was removed by The Astronettes on stage to reveal a dark green costume with pink satin keyhole and a peeping eye underneath.
While the Hayagawari technique may provide some inspirations for a fashion presentation, guaranteeting a quick change of looks, if you're looking for further samurai moods, check out Stillfried & Andersen's Album of Photographs from Japan. The album by this photographic studio founded by Baron Raimund von Stillfried and Hermann Andersen that operated in Yokohama, Japan, between 1876 and 1885 is to go on auction today at Sotheby's.
While not many of us may be able to buy it (it is estimated to fetch between 10,000 and 15,000 GBP), we can all look at some of the hand-tinted costume studies taken from this album and available online. The shapes, prints and motifs of the costumes portrayed and the delicate colours characterising the images look different from Kansai Yamamoto's pop interpretation of his culture, but they still look poetically inspiring.
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