Description

Tsumori Chisato scaled the commanding heights of Japanese and international fashion in the 1990s with colour as the critical virtue. And with the label firmly in its second decade, the conceptual and thematic ambition of its creator’s recent output best illustrates the knowing resolve with which a lush, singular palette is applied and broadened. The absolute values present in Tsumori’s inaugural collections – bold, dappled prints, lively knitting and embroidery, dense pattern-making and ever-novel approaches to sheathing the human form – still gird the meticulous structure of her dreaming world. Reacting to the somber minimalism that is even now conjured by any mention of “serious” Japanese fashion in the West, this new world is blithe and playfully ironic, self-possessed in its delicacy, unabashedly romantic in its femininity – and as ever, awash in vivid colour.

By turns streetwise and homespun, Tsumori’s last few collections convey most eloquently the maturation of a style: one that has long since grown since the days of apprenticing with Issey Miyake and designing for the highly successful Issey Sport Line. Most recently applauded for a stylistic and thematic repertoire that has drawn upon Nordic, nautical, and the 1970s, her collections occupy an interstice between function and gesture, making her one of the most interesting designers today. Conceived as the first comprehensive document of Tsumori Chisato’s work, this book opens a door to her inner life and aspirations, giving readers a one-way ticket to destinations that exist only in Tsumori’s mind. Visually stunning, this book is filled with dozens of the designer’s signature illustrations, sketches, and patterns, lavish photographs, playful anecdotes, and essays by fashion critics and curators, perfectly capturing the Tsumori’s talent to find a brilliant balance between fantasy and reality.