Japanese fashion designer Junya Watanabe, a longtime protégé of Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo and living legend in his own right, pushes boundaries each season through his unique reassessment of beauty. For spring/summer 2003 Watanabe showed an avant-garde yet airy interpretation of warm weather clothing, in his aptly named ‘parachute jumper’ collection. Contrasts were a focal point this season, expressed in the interplay between feminine and masculine elements; femininity was seen in the collection’s 19th-century florals, all white-looks and ‘parasol-meets-parachute’ headpieces, while masculine components were rendered through the inclusion of utilitarian elements such as backpacks and side-release plastic clips. An individualistic vision that, fifteen years later, appears just as fresh and relevant as it did in 2003.
References
- 1
- 2
Norma Kamali
Parachute Ensembles, 1977
André Groult
Chiffonier, 1925
Nobuyoshi Araki
Kinbaku (Bondage), 1979
Carlo Bugatti
Cobra Chair, 1902
Shigeru Ban
Curtain Wall House, 1995, Tokyo, Japan
Émile Gallé
Hibiscus Cameo Glass Lamp, 1900
Loetz
Cameo Glass Vase, 1910
Wolfgang Tillmans
Suit, 1997
Claude Monet
Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875
Jacques Henri Lartigue
Florette dans la Morgan, Provence, 1954
Jacques Henri Lartigue
Cousin Caro and Mr. Plantevigne, Villerville, 1906
Giovanni Boldini
Marchesa Luisa Casati, 1908
Nobuyoshi Araki
Untitled (Kinbaku), 2008
Nobuyoshi Araki
Untitled (Kinbaku), 2008
Nobuyoshi Araki
Untitled, from “Private Photography”, 1991
Norma Kamali
Parachute Evening Ensemble, 1978
Prada
Nylon Rucksack, 1984
Tadao Ando
Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 2001
References
Norma Kamali
Parachute Ensembles, 1977
1 of 20
André Groult
Chiffonier, 1925
2 of 20
Nobuyoshi Araki
Kinbaku (Bondage), 1979
3 of 20
Carlo Bugatti
Cobra Chair, 1902
5 of 20
Shigeru Ban
Curtain Wall House, 1995, Tokyo, Japan
6 of 20
Émile Gallé
Hibiscus Cameo Glass Lamp, 1900
7 of 20
Loetz
Cameo Glass Vase, 1910
8 of 20
Wolfgang Tillmans
Suit, 1997
9 of 20
Claude Monet
Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875
11 of 20
Jacques Henri Lartigue
Florette dans la Morgan, Provence, 1954
12 of 20
Jacques Henri Lartigue
Cousin Caro and Mr. Plantevigne, Villerville, 1906
13 of 20
Giovanni Boldini
Marchesa Luisa Casati, 1908
14 of 20
Nobuyoshi Araki
Untitled (Kinbaku), 2008
15 of 20
Nobuyoshi Araki
Untitled (Kinbaku), 2008
16 of 20
Nobuyoshi Araki
Untitled, from “Private Photography”, 1991
17 of 20
Norma Kamali
Parachute Evening Ensemble, 1978
18 of 20
Prada
Nylon Rucksack, 1984
19 of 20
