The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion

by Yuniya Kawamura, Joanne B. Eicher (Series Editor)

Despite recent challenges from New York, London and Milan, Paris is renowned as the greatest fashion capital in the world. Its distinctive categorization of haute couture, demi-couture, and prt--porter reflects a highly structured and tightly controlled system that non-western designers have had difficulty penetrating. Yet a number of the most influential Japanese designers have broken into this scene and made a major impact. How?Paris couturiers and designers operate a gate-keeping system that is not only exclusive and rigorous but highly demanding. But, Kawamura asks, does the system facilitate or inhibit new forms of creativity? She shows how traditional French fashion has been both disturbed and strengthened by the addition of outside forces such as Kenzo Takada, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo and Hanae Mori. At the same time she considers many other key questions the contemporary fashion industry should be asking itself. Has it, for example, become primarily preoccupied with the commercial projection of product images rather than with the clothing itself? And what direction will French fashion take without Saint Laurent, Miyake and Kenzo?This insightful book provides the first in-depth study of the Japanese revolution in Paris fashion and raises provocative questions for the future of the industry.

Genres: Fashion, Japan, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Donald J. Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former graduate student of the author and someone with a soft spot for this generation of designers, I was quite intrigued to give this a read. Just based off of my own love of their clothes, I had a basic understanding of just how much this group of Japanese designers changed the course of fashion with their approaches to design, but it was interesting to hear more about the context that effectively lead to their success. As a New Yorker, myself, I hadn’t been one to believe in the idea that Paris fashion is the ultimate fashion, at least in a post WWII–context. However, I think Kawamura has done a great job of convincing me just how much power it still retains in setting the precedent of fashion, even as design shifts globally.

I most enjoyed the chapters on the designers themselves, and it’s given me a greater appreciation for them. I hadn’t thought much about Hanae Mori before, perhaps because her tastes were not as avant-garde as the others, but I think I’m interested in learning more about her now.

After reading the conclusion, it’s quite interesting to see how much the industry has developed even in the 20 years since this book was published. Kawamura leaves the reader with the question of what will become of Paris fashion as haute couture shrinks and has been taken over by British, Belgian, and Japanese designers… Paris fashion is still kicking, and the legacy of the “Japanese revolution” is evident. With Americans like Daniel Roseberry and Pharrell Williams acting as creative director for Schiaparelli and Louis Vuitton, and couturiers like Guo Pei (China) and Iris Van Herpen (The Netherlands) showing regularly in Paris, the doors have flung wide open to foreign influence.

[Brimmer Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book about how Japanese designers completely changed Paris fashion like it had never been done before. Great development of the historical argument of Paris fashion and orientalism/ self orientalism.

[Emma Sutich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read like a textbook. The interview excerpts were the real gems.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

i feel like ze tam bylo min o yamamotovi nez o tech ostatnich ale regardless mega good a informative

[diid]

good basics