a gift of the nile
JAPANESE DESIGNER TSUMORI
CHISATO FOUND INSPIRATION
INANANCIENT LAND.Describethe Tsumori Chisato aesthetic in five words. Fun, happy,
colourful,playful, beautiful.
Tellusabout your latest collection and how it came to be. I love
travellingand discovering new lands, cultures and lifestyles. Egypt
isaplaceI’d always wanted to visit. I had the chance to go there and
drewinspiration from all the things I saw – architecture, traditional
costumes, landscapes. The Egyptian culture has a mystery around
it.There’san outer space feeling: ancient yet futuristic in some way.
Andthereare some strong mystical elements, too. I tried to build
acollection with all that in mind.
Talkusthrough the different shapes and materials you’ve used.
Iwasinspired by the shape of Egyptian pyramids for the coats
anddresses. Papyrus and hieroglyphs inspired an original logo
Imadespecially for this season. Material-wise, I used nylon, linen,
cottonand silk throughout the collection, and worked those with
embroideries and transparent pieces.
Andwhatabout the colour palette? The key colours of this season
arewhite, salmon pink and a traditional Japanese yellow called
soga-iro.I used those colours because I think they enhance the
beautyofwomen. Especially under bright sunlight!
Arethereany design features you see as typically Tsumori Chisato?
Originalcolourful prints and jacquard based on illustrations I make
myself.The patterns and illustrations were inspired by memories
frommytrip. I wanted to reinterpret ancient Egyptian culture with
amorepop and contemporary feeling. Other Tsumori Chisato
signatures are comfortable-yet-feminine silhouettes, and silky
andsee-through materials.
Howdoyou want people to feel when they wear your clothes? I want
peopletofeel motivated and happy! Life is tough and today’s world is
underalot of stress. By wearing my clothes, I would like people to be
abletohave fun and forget about the widespread negativity.
Whereisyour studio based, and what’s the neighbourhood like? My
studioisbased in Aoyama, Tokyo. The neighbourhood is very urban
andcanbe considered the centre of fashion in Japan. It’s a very
inspiringarea where we are surrounded by design!
Whichpart of designing a range do you enjoy most? Drawing the
firstsketches; thinking and discussing with my team; seeing
everything come to life and become a reality when we shoot the
lookbook. The whole process is my favourite part, to be honest!
Fromthefirst idea to the clothes being displayed in the shops.
Wherecan we see more of your stuff? tsumorichisato.comlooks we like