Kosuke Tsumura: Fantasy Mode to Order

22 Jun 2007 Category: Events & Exhibitions, Fashion, Features, Japan

Kosuke Tsumura created his FINAL HOME fashion label to dress people up for urban survival. Now he comes up with something astonishing again: Fantasy Mode to Order was originally initiated as a bizarre project by ART iT magazine, in which Tsumura would interview 9 women. Afterwards he would fantasise about them and would project things onto them – and create a dress based on these fantasies for each of them. Then, photographer Hiroyuki Matsukage would document the women wearing the dresses. You can admire the interesting results right now at Nakameguro’s Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo - and as a book. So, how did former Punk Kosuke Tsumura turn into a dreamer? PingMag visited him to take a glimpse at his rapidly ever-expanding fantasy world…

Written by Chiemi
Translated by Natsumi Yamane

First of all, you work as fashion designer - but I have the feeling you are more of an artist that uses fashion as media. How would you like that?

That might actually be true as I find artists very similar to fashion designers. Product designers and architects start designing after they receive an offer, but fashion designers work on ideas that come from within themselves, then present their works to the general public. So we have a subjective view of clients and customers, and that’s probably quite similar to art.

But the concept of Fantasy Mode to Order is to create dresses for specific persons, which is precisely the opposite to your usual fashion concept. What was the challenge of this project in the first place?

I work in fashion without any commission from people. That actually made me want to design for specific people.

The 9 personalities you have chosen were all women – what was the reason for that?

First of all, I wanted to have fantasies and projections onto them. When it comes down to that, women are undoubtedly a mystery… But I just couldn’t expand my imagination on people of the same sex…

Indeed. (laughs) How about your criteria for choosing these ladies?

I looked for women who would cast aside the existing image people would have of them and who would be willing to show other sides to me. In addition, they would have to be open enough to accept what I wanted them to wear, and that in some ways is a headstrong request. Given these considerations, I tended more towards female artists in the end.

Would you give us your thoughts about each of the 9 ladies, starting with performer and model Sayoko Yamaguchi? [see the title image]

Sayoko’s striking features are her eyes, mouth and haircut - that’s why I cut those bits out for this piece. She also took part in Issey Miyake’s first show at his Paris Collection, so she’s kind of a “comrade” for me, too. When Sayoko wears clothes by Japanese designers, they just come to life – I think she’s not just a model but an icon. She never changes her hairstyle, and I get the feeling that Sayoko is simply Sayoko at all times.

So you worked on her “visual” side… How about the actress, Mayu Tsuruta?

Actually, Mayu is married to the artist Daisuke Nakayama, and I knew that many of his early works were rather aggressive. On the other hand, she had a kind of placid atmosphere. I wondered about the connection between her and that Punk Daisuke…

Oh, that’s how your fantasies expand… but the actual dress doesn’t seem to reflect that particular aspect…

Well, I knew that she felt terribly bitter about the way civilisation has come to terms with nature in her past travelling experiences. She also has some kind of resentments towards our modern society – all that seemed to me like an Indian goddess or a personification of nature herself.

I see. Next up is the celebrity, Eriko Sato. Her atmosphere seems to be quite different from the others…

I saw Eriko appear as a figure motif in the works of Takashi Murakami before, so I asked to her to join as a celebrity related to modern art. At the time, she was cultivating a ‘geek chic’ for herself, so I wanted to dress her in a completely different stylish and modish fashion. She is very quick, and you get instant reactions when you talk to her - like in TV shows. That is where the idea with the little mirrors come from – they protects through their reflections. These mirrors are not only accessories but also protectors. She can be sharp and sleek to herself, too, so there are skull-shaped ones as well as hearts.

Then we have the young 23-year-old novelist, Hitomi Kanehara.

She won the prestigious Akutagawa Award with her novel Snakes and Earrings. It was a slightly scary story and she was dressed all in black with black manicures when I met her. But after a little chat, she turned out to be a fairly ordinary young lady. I tried to show the sensibility of the Japanese youth that is so easily affected by the media and seems to be confused under the surface. It is this unbelievable mix of Sailor Moon, Hello Kitty and Disney – but with a couture resembling a snake’s cast under the dress.

How about the Nihonga painter Fuyuko Matsui, famous for her Japanese ghost paintings, right?

I thought Fuyuko’s impressions in the media and that of her ghosts conformed to each other. I also felt that she painted ghosts with a modern sensitivity that derived from recent horror films. The interesting point of this dress is actually the way it hides her legs – I saw Fuyuko’s ghost works and decided that the legs should be hidden in order to create some kind of otherworldliness. I also tried to express elusiveness with the transmutable texture of this stiff fabric that stays in shape.

She certainly looks very mysterious! Next, we have the dancer Masako Yasumoto.

The fact that Masako started dancing after she got into the clubbing thing gave me a sense of affinity, and she’s quite masculine so she’s like a mate to me. I got some inspiration from her dance movements, and an idea of what to show and what to hide according to her movements. Also, the way she expresses with her hands and feet is extremely subtle, and that gives her a typically Asian impression, too. So, I did it as a fusion of Europe, Asia - and Tokyo.

Next up is writer Kiki Kudo.

Kiki is very stylish and she looks great in just about anything. So I was looking forward to hear what she would say about the finished dress - but she had a completely wrong idea about the project and thought she would get designs made after her order. So she requested for something that resembled a pirate. Then, she also talked about her recent trip to India. So, I ended up with India and the “Pirates of Caribbean” mixed up in my mind. (laughs)

I see. (laughs) How about the Geisha-turned-artist Hanayo?

Yes, Hanayo – that gap between Geisha and modern artist is amazing, isn’t it? But I made a point in getting my inspiration from her recent photography works, as works of art always show people’s minds. Then I had an almost religious image of clouds with the sky in my mind. However, there is this anarchistic image of Hanayo, too. That is why I made the clothes a little rough with torn gold mesh, and gave the crown a handmade kind of look on purpose.

She looks like a goddess after religious austerities…

Yes, she does look like a goddess - but a dangerous one, definitely. (laughs)

And finally, we have Sako Kojima – she performs eating huge sunflower seeds in a hamster suit. At first, I thought designing for a performer might make the clothes appear to be a part of the performer’s work, so I rather went for something that was totally different. Also, many of her works involve painful images – like small animals with needles stuck into them. So I wanted her to dress in white as a penance to the animals, with the image of guiding them to heaven to become some kind of god herself. …oh, come to think of it, this project is full of such images, isn’t it?

Many of them seem to come from above the clouds…. How did the women all react to the finished dresses?

These ladies have a lot of guts, so they weren’t upset or anything. I just had an “Oh, I see” kind of reaction. (laughs)

The finished dresses were photographed by Hiroyuki Matsukage - were there any new discoveries during the shootings?

I could see different aspects. But I also felt sorry for Hiroyuki for having him the hardest part of the work - which was to capture a particular moment with the dresses reflecting the models’ characters at the same time. As you can see, my job is over as soon as I get the models dressed. Furthermore, there was no client for this project so the standard of what would be okay or not was really vague. It was a mortifying project in a way, as I had to force my mind frame into making things. Otherwise the project simply wouldn’t finish.

Incidentally, if you were to do the same project with women outside of Japan, who would you request?

The artist Jenny Holzer would be nice, she works with people like Helmut Lang and has quite a wild atmosphere. And Cindy Sherman, too. She processes herself so I’m interested in processing someone who does that to herself.

Recently, the Japanese fashion scene seems to be attracting more attention internationally, but what could invigorate it further?

There is no point in trying to invigorate if it gets thrown into the industry’s machinery. Instead of competing with Paris and New York, everyone should exchange more ideas! Then we will probably be able to see the more important agendas. As we all know, youngsters tend to back off when grown-ups try to bolster things up.

Finally, what means “fashion” to you?

In one word: It’s fantasy! And something without an answer. Fashion isn’t just about clothes but everything including lifestyle. It’s something we are all after but simply impossible to catch up with - as it runs away as soon as we go after it. That’s definitely a fantasy…

That was well put! Kosuke, thank you very much for your fascinating fantasies!!

Exhibition Information
There will be a talk show by Kosuke Tsumura and Hiroyuki Matsukage tomorrow, 23rd of June (Sat) - so don’t miss this opportunity to see them!

Fantasy Mode to Order exhibition at Mizuma Art Gallery
Date: Saturday, 23rd of June
Time: 15:00-17:00
Speaker: Kosuke Tsumura, Hiroyuki Matsukage
Guest Speaker: Naoki Sato (ASYL)
Host: Tetsuya Ozaki (Chief Editor of ART iT)

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2. Oh maaan! Thx for work!3

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5. I’m deeply impressed with the creativity of the garments and the final photography of them. Western feminism would not have allowed such a project to succeed, which I find sad - Only in Japan is this possible on a public level. Wonderful imaginative work!

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7. the fashions design impressed me.good job!

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8. This is a wonderful interview. I agree with Kosuke’s thoughts on fashion.

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9. The title ‘Fantasy Mode’ is very fitting. Has an escapist feel. Definitely an exhibition worth visiting…if only it wasn’t held only in Japan T.T

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