Japanese page  https://www.makuake.com/project/yohji-yanagisawa/

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■ Design Concept: Wabi-Sabi  Beauty within simplicity

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The design concept of Yohji Yanagisawa is to revive the traditional Japanese “Wabi-Sabi (beauty within simplicity)” sense of beauty, which is to admire the natural and accidental quality of things. 

“Wabi-Sabi” is to “feel the natural deep and mellow beauty within loneliness and emptiness“. It is the feature of Japanese culture, which discovers beauty within deterioration as time elapse.     

To express “Wabi-Sabi”, we started to use "bokuju" (Japanese monochrome ink) to tailor clothes. "Bokuju" is typically used in Japanese drawing and Buddhist scriptures.

This project targets to spread the traditional Japanese aesthetic sense to all the people in the world. 

 

■ Fusion of dying in "Bokuju" (Japanese monochrome ink), batik and mode fashion

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Yohji Yanagisawa started at 2014 in Tokyo.

√  Our brand concept is to recognize and redefine the ancient Japanese emotional sense of beauty, which is to respect the beauty of evanescence.

√  Everything derives from nature. Then collapses, and goes back to nature.

It is a one and only brand, which blends traditional Japanese technique and beauty with western mode fashion.

We all are young Japanese, who have learned traditional Japanese flower arrangements and traditional Japanese dance. Some are fond of temples and shrines.

Due to our love of Japanese culture, when we started to tailor western clothes, we came up with the idea of pairing "bokuju" dye and batik.

To explore and master the technique, we handle all the process internally, from dyeing the clothe, drawing in batik, patterning, sewing and up to sales.  

■ Dyeing in "bokuju" (Japanese monochrome ink) is complex!

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We dye clothes with "bokuju" (Japanese monochrome ink). Shading of color is controlled by density of "bokuju". Climate such as humidity has effect on the color, which make each cloth different. This is the dynamism of dying.   

"Bokuju" has traditionally been used in drawings and calligraphy. Shading was used to express the depth of space. Traditionally, Japanese people enjoy deriving beauty out of nothing. 

It is said that monks started to dye their clothes with "bokuju" in the ancient days. We were attracted to the depth of blackness and the shade of the "bokuju".  

■Batik is further more complex!

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Batik is a dyeing method, which use wax to cover the pattern. All procedure is handled manually and the pattern is painted one by one, using brush. The heat of the wax has effect on the penetration level, and skill is needed to master the procedure.

The part covered by wax will make a crack and a unique pattern comes up. It is such a joy to see the fabric tailored and complete into fine clothing.

Batik was traditionally conducted in Japan in the Nara era (around 8th Century) under the name of “Roukechi” and many products are stored in “Shosouin”.  We inherit that tradition and technology to tailor clothes in the present age.

■The combination of "bokuju" (Japanese monochrome ink) dyeing and batik is truly complex!

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Dyeing in "bokuju" (Japanese monochrome ink) is not popular nowadays and we had to repeat trial and error to revive the technology. We continued experimenting, using various materials.

Batik use hot water to wash out the wax after creating the pattern. Sometimes we mistakenly wash out the ink, as well as the wax, due to high temperature of the water.

In the beginning, we tried many times without any success. We were on the verge of giving up, as the color came out completely different from our intention.

However, we made a lot of progress since then. Now we are able to control the shade of colors completely. We also acquired the technology to prevent the ink from washing out.

In the near future, we would like to start to dye from the thread and create our own fabric.

We would like to further pursue ancient Japanese sense of beauty, such as, Subtleness, which emerge from expressing the world by just the shade of ink.

Sense of affluence within insufficiency and loneliness.

■The value of YOHJI YANAGISAWA

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The modern fashion world, that everything is generated and copied in a split second. There sure exists convenience in cheep, fast and simple fashion. However, at the same time, we lost many things.   

We believe that there is unique charm and value in clothes that is manually created with time and effort, and possess accidental natural effect.

"Bokuju" (Japanese monochrome ink) dying and batik cannot be executed using printing machine. Batik pattern has to be written by manpower.

Each cloth is different from one another as it is effected by climate and timing. Please experience the difference yourself.

■Working Process

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■Member

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■Collection

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■Ladies Collection

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■Mens Collection

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■How to use the fund collected

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There are many tasks in "bokuju" (Japanese monochrome ink) dyeing/batik procedure.

The fund collected in this project will be used for investment in equipment and for sending out our product globally.

 In the near future, we will start dyeing from thread and insource the fabric producing procedure.

 

■The Makuake original return

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As return for clients who support us in Makuake, we will offer our products in 10% discount from our official price.

※You can try our return products at Shinjuku Isetan in the following periods. We will be anxiously waiting for your visit.

・Date：8/26（wed) −9/22（Tue）10:30～20:00
・Place：ISETAN Shinjuku, at Main Building 2nd floor near Global Closet

For further details please refer to the following link.

http://isetan.mistore.jp/store/shinjuku/floor/main_2f/index.html

 

■Delivery of the return products

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We will start sending out approximately one month after the project final.   

 

■Closing

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We would like to take chance of this project to let people know about Yohji Yanagisawa’s clothing and at the same time, let people feel the depth of Japanese “Wabi-sabi (Beauty within simplicity)” culture in their daily life.

We think clothing is a portable art. Art that you can bring along. We will continue to announce new and adorable collections.

We truly appreciate your kind support! Thank you!