Press release2024/6/26

Couture Collection Autumn/Winter 2024-25

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Designer’s message
Following on from our previous season, this latest collection took its initial inspiration from my experiences
designing stage costumes for Idomeneo, an opera written by Mozart that explores war and relationships inancient Greece.
The story, which takes place on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea, is told using a stage designthat incorporates an abundance of red ropes.
The scenes of armored figures, entangled in red ropes representing the sea, seemed to hint at multiple
meanings, bringing me face to face with the unchanging nature of the human condition as it has stood fromancient times to the modern day.
The steel armor from the original opera is represented in this collection by delicate and fragile ceramics,
used in dresses that create sound through the movement of the body, almost like a primitive musicalinstrument. The resulting pieces resemble a sort of armor that lacks any usefulness in combat. I also choseto include tailored suits as a modern callback to armor, superimposing our own age onto that of the ancient
Greeks of over 5,000 years ago.
As if losing their original function, the suits crumble, drape, and turn inside out, transforming into
ornaments for the body. From within, a lining of delicate, hand-knitted red thread begins to emerge.
Red, the color that flows through each of our veins, looms forth from the black suits. My intention was toturn the very state of being clothed into something that exposes the individual even more than wearing noclothing at all.
During combat, the most important feature of an item worn on the body is its functionality, which is as true
now as it was in ancient times. Functionality also serves as an important factor in evaluating the design of a
YUIMA NAKAZATO | Press Release

Press release2024/6/26

given garment in the mass production-based apparel industry. By removing the garments’ functionality andmaking them purely decorative—inverting the original meaning of clothing—I sought to express myresistance to this trend.

Collection details
Each piece of ceramic used in the collection was made with Japanese clay and shaped by myself and atelier
members’ own hands. Combined with hand-knitted dresses, corsets, and belts made in our atelier, I havecreated a delicate, decorative armor. These were worn by dancers led by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, with theresulting movement and sound being utilized as part of the stage setting.
The tailored suits are made with Spiber’s Brewed Protein™ fibers and wool woven into fabric on traditionallooms at a Japanese weaver which has been in operation for more than 100 years.
The lining is either hand-knitted or silk organdy woven with non-twisted fibers. Prints were made using
digital textile printing technology with pigmented inks, minimizing both water and energy consumption.
The shirts are made of fabrics woven from Brewed Protein™ fibers and organic cotton, while thedecorations are made of silk and cotton lace produced in Caudry.
With Dry Fiber Technology, which we have been researching and developing with Epson over several
seasons, we seek to recycle scraps generated during fiber production in Japan. Separating these scraps bycolor and material allows us to control the look and feel of the resulting fabric, which is then made intodresses and jackets.
Finally, MIKIMOTO's black pearl jewelry and hand knitwear are used in the styling to complement the storyof Idomeneo, which is set against the backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea.

Yuima Nakazato

YUIMA NAKAZATO | Press Release

Press release2024/6/26

Credits

Creative director:
Show direction/choreography:
Show music:
Hair and make up:
Performance:

Casting:Show production:Show video:
Runway photographer:
PR:

Yuima Nakazato
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Senjan Jansen
Hirofumi Kera for Shiseido
Andrea Bou Othmane
Christina Guieb
Hajiba Fahmy
Mohamed Toukabri
Tsuki Kozuki
Maida Boina
Snow White Productions
Premices Film
Gio Staiano
KCD Paris

Special thanks to: Spiber
Epson
MIKIMOTO
La Fédération de la Haute Couture etde la Mode
EastmanYUIMA NAKAZATO atelier team

YUIMA NAKAZATO | Press Release