Designs Inspired by Vessels

In Japan, a “vessel” is a metaphorical term referring to the sheer size of a building, or even the heart of a person. Throughout my career, I’ve often created designs inspired by a “vessel.” This picture was taken at the Kyoto National Museum on October 9, 2015 at a Noh performance on the opening night of a fashion exhibition celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Rinpa school of Japanese painting. The costumes I designed were based on the Nishijin brocade, a traditional textile of Kyoto, and they were inspired by the “vessel” of the museum venue.

Fashion Design by Junko Koshino

“What led you to hold a fashion show in China?” That’s what Li Zhao asked me at a party after she hosted “China’s biggest fashion show” at the Beijing Hotel in 1985 at a time when her husband, Hu Yaobang, was general secretary of the Communist Party. This was a time when most people in China were still wearing Mao suits and goods were thinly rationed in the market. The thirsty ground started longing for the blessed rain of fashion after the show.

Fashion Design by Junko Koshino

Timeless Style

2015 marks the 400th anniversary of the Rimpa School of Japanese painting. This world-class cultural sphere of creation established during the Edo period has a uniquely Japanese approach to aesthetics derived from a sense of beauty that arose from food, clothing and housing style. Its spirit has come down to various contemporary designs. The works of Jakuchu Ito, a prolific painter who grew up in Nishiki Market in Kyoto around 300 years ago, are especially significant. We can see the connection with nature in his works— for example, a mantis amidst a backdrop of corn and melons. The work in this photograph is a black, almost flying silk cloak based on the image of cranes, elephants, and especially roosters. The Rimpa School is truly a timeless style. tj

Fashion Design by Junko Koshino

Tokyo's Fashion Queen and Tony Award-nominee Junko Koshino, renowned for her cutting edge clothes, costume and uniform designs, shares the latest in Tokyo's fashion scene.

IT was five years ago that I saw the Ryukyu Kaiensai Fireworks Festival, which celebrated its 11th anniversary in 2014. I was visiting Okinawa and heard that there was a fireworks festival at Gino Bay, Futenma. That was the beginning.

At the time, I wondered, “How wonderful would it be if fireworks came together opera?”

Fashion Design by Junko Koshino

Tokyo's Fashion Queen and Tony Award-nominee Junko Koshino, renowned for her cutting edge clothes, costume and uniform designs, shares the latest in Tokyo's fashion scene.

TJ: You are going to Brazil to prepare for an art exhibition. What do you like the most about Brazil?
KOSHINO: It has a future. It creates visions one after another, like the World Cup and the Olympic Games.

TJ: What is important for you when working globally?
KOSHINO: To act from a global point of view.

TJ: What is the most exciting thing you have experienced abroad?
KOSHINO: A show at the Cabaret Tropicana in Cuba and a dinner show in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

TJ:美術館でのアート展のためブラジルに行か れるという事ですが、ブラジルの最も好きなと ころは?
コシノ : 未未来がある。ワールドカップ、オリ ンピックと次々とビジョンが生まれる。

TJ:グローバルな仕事をするときに重要なこと は?
コシノ : 常に世界観を持って行動すること

TJ:最もエキサイティングな海外での体験は何 ですか?
コシノ : キューバ、トロピカーナでのショウ、 NYメトロポリタンミュージアムでのショウと ディナー

Tokyo's Fashion Queen and Tony Award-nominee Junko Koshino, renowned for her fashion,
costume and uniform design, shares the latest in Tokyo's fashion scene.

Junko Koshino

TJ: What was the first article of clothing you ever designed?
KOSHINO: When I was in the third grade I made a skirt. I grew up in a house with a mother who owned a clothing shop; therefore, designing and needlework were very familiar to me. I made a simple skirt that was just arranged with an elastic band and displayed it in the shop without permission.

TJ: What are your favorite colors to work with and why?
KOSHINO: Red and yellow, or white and black; I like contrasts. I also like the contrast between light and shadow, circles and squares and day and night, etc. I believe that the circle is the shape God made and the square is the shape humans made.

ファッション・衣装・ユニフォームのデザインで知られ、 トニー賞にもノミネートされた東京のファションクイーン コシノ・ジュンコさんに、 東京のファッション・シーンの最新情報を語っていただきました。

TJ: 生まれて初めてデザインした服は？
コシノ: 小学校３年生の時にスカートを作りま した。母が衣料店を経営していたので、デザイ ンや針仕事はずっと身近なものでした。だからウエストにゴムを着けた簡単なスカートを自分で作って、勝手に母の店のディスプレイに飾ったんです。

TJ: 一番好きな色は？その理由は？
コシノ: 基本的には赤と黒です。私はコントラスト、バランスを重視します。光と影、丸と四
角、昼と夜など対極のコンセプトです。たとえ ば丸は神が作ったものの形、四角は人間が作っ
たものの形。赤と黒だけでなく、黄と黒、白と黒といった組み合わせも好きです。

Try no matter what happens. Move forward without looking away

Life is like a Festival

I was born in Kishiwada, Osaka, a town surrounding the Kishiwada Castle. It is known for its Danjiri Matsuri Cart-Pulling Festival held the third weekend of September and attracting some 600,000 visitors. The 310-year-old festival has become exceedingly dangerous.

Since I was a kid, I’ve loved hearing the pipes, drums and the loud “So-rya, So-rya” chanting of the festival. I joined the float pullers between my fourth year of primary school and second year of high school. It was the big event of the year for me.

人生もまた祭りのようなもの。

私の生まれ育った大阪府岸和田市は、岸和田城を中心とす る城下町です。岸和田と言えば、毎年 9 月の第 3 土・日 曜日をメインに行われ、60 万人もの人が訪れる「だんじり祭」が有名。約 310 年の歴史と伝統を誇り、危険なまでに白 熱する祭りとして知られています。

私は子供の頃から祭りの笛や太鼓のお囃子、「ソーリャソーリャ」 という威勢のいい掛け声を聞くと何とも言えない高揚感で胸が踊 り、ウズウズしたものです。好きが嵩じて、小学4年から高校 2 年まで、年に一度の晴れ舞台 さながら山車の曳き手として一団に加わるまでとなりました。

Tokyo's Fashion Queen and Tony Award-nominee Junko Koshino, renowned for her fashion, costume and uniform design, shares the latest in Tokyo's fashion scene.

Junko Koshino

TJ: Can you tell us about your recent projects?
Koshino: In 2012, I did the costume design for The Art of Japan Drum “Drum Tao” and the launch of the Cashmere 2012 Autumn Winter Total Collection Line. Projects in 2013 include the March costume design for the Yuzuru (Twilight Crane) Opera in Vietnam and a museum exhibition in Sao Paulo in November.

TJ: In recent years, what do you think have been the most significant changes in women’s fashion?
Koshino: I think artistic sensitivity has increasingly been freely expressed in women’s fashion designs.

ファッション・衣装・ユニフォームのデザインで知られ、 トニー賞にもノミネートされた東京のファションクイーン コシノ・ジュンコさんに、 東京のファッション・シーンの最新情報を語っていただきました。

TJ: 最近のお仕事についてお聞かせください。
コシノ: 2012 年の活動としては、和太鼓を使っ たアート・パフォーマンス「ドラム・タオ」の 衣装デザイン、カシミヤのトータルコレクショ ンラインのスタート（2012 年秋冬コレクショ ン）などが挙げられます。2013 年には、ベト ナムでのオペラ「夕鶴」公演の衣装デザイン、 11 月のサンパウロのミュージアムでの展覧会 などを予定しています。

TJ: 近年のウィメンズファッションで、最も大 きな変化だと思われるのは？
コシノ: アーティステックな感性がデザインに 現れ、より自由になったと思います。