The Japanese graphic designer Kazumasa Nagai always designs his own exhibition posters. And it’s definitely not because he’s short on funds. At 85, his name is almost legendary. He’s not only created the logos for major companies like Mitsubishi UFJ, Nissin and the now notorious TEPCO, but also thousands of posters (yes, thousands) for events, advertisements and personal liking.
At an event last year at Ginza Graphic Gallery, Nagai was showcasing roughly 140 prints featuring his iconic animals when an equally well-known figure visited: Issey Miyake of the fashion power house. The two agreed to collaborate on a series of clothing and accessories for Miyake’s PLEATS PLEASE line, which was unveiled earlier this year at an exhibition.
Five main images were selected from a group of animal posters created in 1993. “In this latest experiment, Miyake’s goal was to instill LIFE into the clothes, rather than simply treating Nagai’s artwork as static graphics,” says the team in a statement. “The clothes which appear flat until worn, take on three-dimensional forms whilst the animals on the clothes come to life through the movements of the wearer.”
photos from the exhibition unveiling the new line of clothes, alongside a series of posters
