Akemi’s 100 Kimonos, by Emily Stein

08.08.2018 | Art , Culture , Fashion | BY:

In a new series of images, photographer Emily Stein creates portraits of Akemi and her kimonos. A celebration of traditional clothing and heritage set in a modern British environments.

Emily Stein explains the story behind her bright and celebratory new series. 

Akemi has lived in the UK for twenty years, however her heart is truly rooted in her home country of Japan and this manifests itself in her extensive Kimono collection.  As I got to know her she explained to me how she came to London in search of a safer place for her and her young daughter. She explained how in Japan women are sexually harassed frequently and how she grew up being taught to obey men. She felt she had no voice or way of expressing herself.

Each Kimono has a story to tell about her past which she is emotionally connected to.

Her kimono collection is a way for Akemi to be close to certain parts of what she loves about her heritage. Her collection of 100 beautiful pieces feels like an extension of her.

She always dresses in Kimono’s. I felt like it would be a lovely story to tell.

© Emily Stein
© Emily Stein
© Emily Stein

© Emily Stein

Tags: , ,

The future of fashion

26.10.2010 | Art , Blog , Fashion | BY:

When Japanese visionaries Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto stormed the catwalks in the early Eighties they redefined fashion. The androgyny of their architectural shapes not only blew apart how women in Europe dressed, but succeeded in turning fashion into art.

Thirty years on and Japanese fashion continues to challenge Western notions of beauty and the Barbican’s new exhibition, ‘Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion’ charts the history and impact of the country’s inimitable style.

As Kate Bush, Head of Barbican Art Galleries says: “The tight silhouettes of Western couture were jettisoned for new fluid shapes. Out went the magnificent ornament and extravagant techniques of the post-war tradition and in came a stark, monochrome palette and an entirely new decorative language – holes, rips, frays and tears – emerging from the stuff of fabric itself.”

An epic journey through Japanese fashion history, featuring over 100 beautiful pieces by labels such as Comme des Garcons and Junya Watanabe – courtesy of the Kyoto Costume Institute – as well as catwalk footage and archive interviews, the exhibition dazzles the senses. Spanning the grand masters to the new radicals of Japanese design, it’s the story of an avant-garde fashion culture where breathtaking beauty and innovation are all part of the same rapid beating heart.

‘Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion’ is at the Barbican Centre until 6 February 2010.
Barbican.org/JapaneseFashion

Images by Lyndon Douglas. Words by Boudicca Fox-Leonard.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Join the mailing list

Search