#zinkato

ジン カトー (ZIN KATO)

TFW 2017SS

アマゾンファッションウィーク４日目に、メイン会場である渋谷ヒカリエのホールAで2017年春夏コレクションを発表。ジンカトーならでは、ディテールや装飾に凝った壮麗なショーを行った。花や海を思わせる春らしいプリントと刺繍のドレスのほかに、黒を基調にしたゴシック調や、フラッパー調のルックも登場した。

デザイナー ジン カトー

OCTOBER 22: A model  presents the Zin Kato collection at the Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo’s 2017 Spring/Summer show under way at Shibuya Hikarie in Tokyo on Oct. 22, 2016. and other locations through 23rd. Dedicated in pursuing an exquisiteness unique to the Japanese, ZIN applies the most delicate of materials in order to compose the most elegant of apparels. ZIN excels in blending the wonders of surrealistic allure into our casual and accustomed wear. Nearly 50 fashion brands and companies will hold their shows at several locations through 23rd.. 22/10/2016-Tokyo, JAPAN

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week TOKYO 2015S/S

(images via mbfwj)

before i begin yammering on about yet another fashion collection, i just wanted to take a moment to give an opt programming note.  we've obviously been frantically trying to catch up on some of the shows that took place during the late summer, but as a bevy of new collections have just come in from elsewhere (some that i haven't even broken out yet), i think maybe we should suspend some of the earlier events in favour of finishing out a few more recent that we've almost completed.  yes?  that may not all make much sense now, but i'm hoping it will make our discussions easier and more productive, alas.

so!  back to the clothes!  after taking a hiatus from the tokyo catwalks at japan fashion week (the last runway staging, so far as i can tell, was for s/s 2009), zin kato (ジンカトウ) was back for the s/s 2013 season, and was it ever a sight to behold.  staged inside the shibuya hikarie hikarie hall, the range was a bevy of colours, details, and...sometimes even aesthetics, leading me to wonder if this was yet another kind of meandering (if stunning beautiful, all the same) collection. 

but!  no, we were not to be disappointed in that manner.  explaining that the range was called 'okhotsk fantasy,' change fashion related that (trans.) "(t)his collection was to condense the identity of its designer with his roots in the northern islands floating in the sea of Okhotsk. It is inspired by the magnificent nature of the land itself, the beauty and innocence of young girls, and the feelings from exchanges with the Russian people."  

so it was actually a tribute of sorts, and a rather touching one, at that.  the reports seem to vary a bit as to whether the designer actually lived in okhotsk, and i guess i didn't always understand the flow of his logic, but i ended up wondering whether each piece was meant to represent a little tale, and anecdote, and image, of something that the region evokes. meanwhile, according to apparel-web, the designer (trans.) "introduced the motif of flowers...and the kindness of the people and the natural beauty of the island; it is also a symbol of peace." in other words, there's a lot going on, so i guess it's possible.

anyway, in their analysis, the blog mami shira gave some interesting details, writing that "models transformed to little birds, walking on run way. Dresses were made by flower and hand embroidery, it took him at least 6 months to make each dresses [sic]...Key to this collection was any angle you see front, side and back it is beautiful design all around." that, i think, was true, and many of the gowns had an almost couture-like fantastical quality to them (which is confirmed by the effort put into them), with sculptural details that were quite dramatic and firmly in the 'art' category.

yet there were wearable creations as well, and in their take, the amaaaaazing fashion press described how (trans.) "(d)elicate pale tonse mix with each other, and an embroidered lace dress that was decorated with flowers is filled with the pure beauty and strength possessed by the wild flowers. The elegant silhouette that [hugs the feminine curves] has become increasingly more lovely." and they went on to point out that the designer explored details like ruffles and trains, which added to the theatrical quality (though they went on about it in more earth-mama-type tones).

if i had any issues at all with the pieces themselves, it would kind of be that i was a little frustrated with the manner in which the designer appeared to want to mix things up; either he was in full-on gown mode, or, like, sexy times girl, with a bloody lot of skin showing (thanks to some quite liberal cut-outs).  it wasn't that either of these avenues wasn't an interesting one to pursue, or that they didn't produce some breathtaking clothes, it was just that, yannow, if one isn't, like, either a club girl or a gala girl...she still might want to wear some zin kato clothes, yannow?  but apparently the designer himself doesn't.  maybe that's the point of how they dress in okhotsk.  wouldn't that be an interesting place, if so? (enjoy some additional show images at fashion snap)