Japanese designer Atsushi Nakashima, who mastered tricks of the trade under the guidance of the famous couturier Jean Paul Gaultier, will be showcasing a collection that would have European imprint with subtle Oriental layering at the ongoing Lotus Make-Up India Fashion Week at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium this Friday. This show should be seen in the light of the fact that the FDCI and the Embassy of Japan have been working towards promoting fashion in India and Japan.
Describing his fashion vocabulary, Nakashima, who, after working under Gaultier for seven years, moved on by launching his own brand bearing his nomenclature, says: “Each designer has a distinct approach as far as making clothes is concerned. My personal approach is to rely 20 % on theory. The rest 80% I am guided by my instinct, which tells me what silhouettes and layering my clothes should have. My clothes reflect what my instinct tells me.”
Nakashima, who recently unveiled his collection at the recent Milan Fashion Week, says they are quintessential Western. “ There will be modern casual outfits; no formal attire. So you are going to see outfits like jackets, trousers and gowns on the ramp tomorrow. There will be both menswear and women’s wear and some androgynous outfits as well.”
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Showcasing in India for the first time, Nakashima says he is interested in Indian embroideries.
“I will interpret them in my future collections. This collection was launched two weeks ago at the Milan Fashion Week. Therefore, it is not specifically for the Indian audience.”
In comparison to Indian fashion mughals, Japanese designers have been able to put their traditional crafts on the global stage with much more success.
“The idea behind our clothes is that we derive inspiration from Japanese silhouettes like the kimono but adapt them according to European taste. Therefore, clothes are an amalgamation between the Japanese inspiration and European interpretation. Some of the geometric motifs on the outfits have typical Japanese patterns. One of the motifs on the centre piece is of a wolf. It has been constructed through machine embroidery. It will be on a casual jacket designed again in European style.”
According to FDCI President, Sunil Sethi, there is no doubt that the Japanese are trendsetters not just in the world of technology but also design. “And they truly understand the nuances of style as they have given the world the idea of celebrating imperfection and of course Kinstugi, the art of not discarding what’s broken but paying homage to it.”
