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Category — Fashion

Noto Fusai launches Noto Shop

Two months ago it suddenly became super-easy to get your hands on Noto Fusai’s creative t-shirts. Their new online shop carries all their classics, as well as 2 newbies which were designed to commemorate the launch of their new store, as well as the 5th anniversary of the husband and wife designer-duo team.

“Whisk” is being called the first ever t-shirt to merge art with the kitchen.

awadate p 318x318 Noto Fusai launches Noto Shop
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“Pen and Art” comes with a pen and a pen-insert. You can even get creative and scribble a little something on it.

pennote p 318x318 Noto Fusai launches Noto Shop

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August 9, 2010   View Comments

Issey Miyake launches new website

Fashion designer Issey Miyake has a spanking new website designed by Shun Kawakami of Artless.

web isseymiyake2010 407x318 Issey Miyake launches new website

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July 28, 2010   View Comments

Vocal, Tatsuya Matsui and Yasumichi Morita for Louis Vuitton

4 13 10 VerbalLV21366 425x283 Vocal, Tatsuya Matsui and Yasumichi Morita for Louis Vuitton
Above: Verbal | click images to enlarge

Photographer Todd Selby has recently uploaded shots he did in Tokyo for the Fall 2010 Louis Vuitton Men’s Collection. Subjects include rapper Vocal (of M-flo), robot designer Tatsuya Matsui and Interior Designer Yasumichi Morita. More images here.

4 13 10 VerbalLV21534 211x318 Vocal, Tatsuya Matsui and Yasumichi Morita for Louis Vuitton 4 12 10 Tatsuya Mastui19941 211x318 Vocal, Tatsuya Matsui and Yasumichi Morita for Louis Vuitton

4 12 10 Tatsuya Mastui20197 425x283 Vocal, Tatsuya Matsui and Yasumichi Morita for Louis Vuitton
Above: Tatsuya Matsui

4 12 10 YasumichiMorita20564 425x283 Vocal, Tatsuya Matsui and Yasumichi Morita for Louis Vuitton
Above: Yasumichi Morita

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July 1, 2010   View Comments

Conceptual Fashion | Wideshortslimlong by anrealage

Conceptual Japanese fashion designer Kunihiko Morinaga, who is better known as ANREALAGE – a combination of the words “real, unreal and age” – debuted his 2010-11 Autunm/Winter collection in Tokyo last month. And before you tell me that I totally messed up resizing my pictures, read on.

wideshortslimlong by anrealage 1 425x278 Conceptual Fashion | Wideshortslimlong by anrealage
wideshortslimlong by anrealage 2 425x278 Conceptual Fashion | Wideshortslimlong by anrealage

Titled Wideshortslimlong, the collection consists of several distorted outfits that look like they stepped in front of a carnival mirror.

wideshortslimlong by anrealage 3 425x278 Conceptual Fashion | Wideshortslimlong by anrealage

For this particular collection, which comprises everything from t-shirts and jeans to dresses and pants, the designer worked with 2 spokes; a wide-short spoke and a slim-long spoke. The wide-short distorts the average height of a Japanese person by 250% (width) and 70% (length), while the slim-long distorts by 80% (width) and 150% (length).

wideshortslimlong by anrealage 4 425x278 Conceptual Fashion | Wideshortslimlong by anrealage

You can interpret the collection as you please – humorous attempt to redefine clothing or angry assault on the fashion industry for trying to categorize every person into a S M or L – but either way, ANREALAGE never fails to challenge our notions of fashion.

wideshortslimlong by anrealage 5 208x318 Conceptual Fashion | Wideshortslimlong by anrealage wideshortslimlong by anrealage 9 208x318 Conceptual Fashion | Wideshortslimlong by anrealage

Attention to detail is incredible. Even the labels and hangars are distorted accurately.

wideshortslimlong by anrealage tags and hangers 224x420 Conceptual Fashion | Wideshortslimlong by anrealage

Mitsubai Tokyo has already begun selling some of the pieces. Plus, check out pictures from the installation at Aoyama Studios last month.

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May 20, 2010   View Comments

Chigo SS 2010 collection for boys

GOCHI kids wear SS2010 2 490x420 Chigo SS 2010 collection for boys
click images to enlarge
GOCHI kids wear SS2010 4 490x420 Chigo SS 2010 collection for boys

GOCHI kids wear SS2010 3 490x420 Chigo SS 2010 collection for boys

Chigo, the proprietors of chic wooden toys for kids, recently announced the launch of  Gochi – a new collection of stylish clothing for boys. Their Spring/Summer 2010 collection includes these fun t-shirts (3,990 yen) and other minimal basics. Although not part of the collection, I really like these bicycle print onesies and t-shirts as well (also 3,990 yen).

chigo onesie bike print 490x420 Chigo SS 2010 collection for boys

chigo tee bike print 490x420 Chigo SS 2010 collection for boys

And how funny are these ‘shrooms made from leftover fabric from all their recent creations? I’ve always thought mushrooms would make awesome baby toys but that little voice from the outside world that keeps my self-assessments in check prevented me from tossing one down from the counter….until now.

chigo mushrooms Chigo SS 2010 collection for boys

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April 12, 2010   View Comments

Wipe Shirt by design unit FIFT

whipe shirt shirt tail 425x214 Wipe Shirt by design unit FIFT
click to enlarge

This is kind of genius! Design unit FIFT, comprised of husband and wife design-duo Katsunari and Ami Igarashi, have designed Wipe Shirt (13,650 yen), a button-down with built-in microfiber cloth for wiping down glasses or cell phones.  It syncs perfectly with the designer’s mission statement to promote interaction between their products and the user.

whipe shirt shirt tail model 211x318 Wipe Shirt by design unit FIFT whipe shirt shirt cuff model 211x318 Wipe Shirt by design unit FIFT

What’s great about this shirt is that it’s actually a good looking shirt; meaning, I would wear that even though I don’t wear glasses. And it’s no wonder. They consulted with a clothing designer who flaunts a degree from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts. No edges were cut when procuring material either, using only the finest microfiber furnished by the technologically advanced fabric maker Unitika.  And fear not, all you tuckers for there is a cuff version of the shirt as well.

wipe cuff detail02 Wipe Shirt by design unit FIFT

wipe shirttail detail02 Wipe Shirt by design unit FIFT

wipe shirttail detail08 Wipe Shirt by design unit FIFT

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March 16, 2010   View Comments

Student Work | Kobe Design University

Kobe Design University recently held their senior exhibition. Designer Masahiro Minami took a trip over and came back with pictures of some fantastic, high-quality work. So many young, talented designers! Here are some of my favorites.
(all images by Masahiro Minami. Click to enlarge)

This is actually the underlay for a bento box; a solution to decade-old problems like leakage and movement. Love the aesthetic!
Kobe Design University bento 425x283 Student Work | Kobe Design University

A wooden bicycle complete with wooden gears. Only a student could come up with something so outrageous.
Kobe Design University wooden bicycle 425x283 Student Work | Kobe Design University

Rad oversized rings
Kobe Design University rings 425x283 Student Work | Kobe Design University

I’m not quite sure what this is but I love the display.
Kobe Design University wall stones 425x283 Student Work | Kobe Design University

This 3D cutout must have taken several endless nights.
Kobe Design University cutouts 425x283 Student Work | Kobe Design University

Of particular interest to me was this futuristic digital camera. It’s a working model that was co-developed by the University. The way it works is you drape it over your neck and take photographs by creating a frame using your hands. Neat!
Kobe Design University neck camera 425x283 Student Work | Kobe Design University

Kobe Design University neck camera 2 425x283 Student Work | Kobe Design University

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February 18, 2010   View Comments

Wristwatch | ±0

plus minus zero wristwatch Wristwatch | ±0

Enigmatic designer Naoto Fukasawa’s ±0 brand has just released their latest design, a minimalistic wristwatch that allows you to easily replace the band by sliding it in and out. Love the simplicity! It comes in 4 variations, each costing about 30,000 yen. It goes on sale March 5th.

plus minus zero wristwatch 4 Wristwatch | ±0plus minus zero wristwatch 3 Wristwatch | ±0
plus minus zero wristwatch 2 Wristwatch | ±0

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February 10, 2010   View Comments

Bottle Baguette by Issey Miyake

This clever design done for the holiday season somehow slipped under my radar and into one of my wife’s magazines. The Bottle Baguette (3,700 yen), by Japanese haute couture heavyweight Issey Miyake, is a essentially pretty packaging for a wine bottle to be used when attending dinner parties. The packaging then remains on the bottle, which can be transformed into a flower vase.

issey miyake bottle baguette Bottle Baguette by Issey Miyake

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January 12, 2010   View Comments

Balloon as vase by Shun Kawakami

I hope everyone in the US had a Happy Thanksgiving and everyone everywhere else had a Happy Thursday! I was saving this post because it seemed festive and I kept thinking how awesome it would be to welcome guests into a home adorned with flower vases like these.

So, last month art director Shun Kawakami embarked on a bold collaborative project, balloon as vase, to create these fascinating vases that you might see if Jeff Koons hosted a Zen tea ceremony.

I actually considered cropping the vases to optimize them for viewing but decided to preserve the originals because they are really so beautiful in their long and narrow orientation, reminiscent of Chinese scrolls. So please click to enlarge!

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Photos by Yuu Kawakami

The vases were originally created for “composition of knowledge and feeling,” an exhibition by Shun Kawakami and Takashi Kawada that was shown at JAGDA TOKYO last month. Other collaborators include balloon artist Rie Hosokai aka Daisy Balloon and calligraphy artist Gen Miyamura, both artists in their own right, and whose standalone work I have shown below.

flame by gen miyamura
Flame (2008) by calligraphy artist Gen Miyamura, who creates works in highly deconstructed forms of calligraphy. One may even go as far as calling it abstract. In the past Miyamura has done CD jacket designs, movie posters, and even commercial work for Bridgestone and Docomo.

rie hosokai daisy balloon
A dress by balloon artist Rie Hosokai, who started balloon art in 2002 and went on to reign supreme in almost every balloon folding exhibition she entered. The icing on the cake was her 2 consecutive wins in Millenium Jam with her haute couture dresses made from balloons.

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November 27, 2009   View Comments