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Words by Michelle Cha
THE highly anticipated exhibition Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion opens 1 November at QAGOMA. The opening weekend will be an event not be missed by anyone with a keen eye for trends and fashion, or those that just appreciate fashion history.
Let’s talk about Japanese fashion history for a second. Fashion houses like Marc Jacobs, Versace, Dior, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, and countless more are covered by the western media. Japanese fashion is more known for its streetwear and eccentricity. Do you remember those horrendous counterfeit Bape hoodies everyone was obsessed with five or six years ago? Don’t know if it was just a Gold Coast thing, but I have a confession… I secretly wanted one so bad, just so I could be the cool girl in the tuckshop line that everyone was jealous of. I realise I must of been near way too much paint in art class to think this was ever “cool” but I’m glad my mum never bought me one (thanks mum). But Nigo, the creator of the clothing line A Bathing Ape (Bape) is hugely popular and successful due to his eccentric designs and collaborations with ageless Pharrell Williams.
Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion will guide you through modern Japanese fashion whilst looking back to the influence of history on fashion. It is a refreshing perspective on international fashion and culture compared to mainstream fashion.
The opening weekend’s program is filled with prestigious guests and activities. If you love breakfast as much as I do, the Opening Weekend Breakfast will start from 9.45am and ending around 11.30am at GOMA Restaurant for QAGOMA members and their guests. Very chic. Tickets are $45 for members and $60 for members guests; call (07) 3840 7278 to RSVP by 17 October.
Akiko Fukai, Chief Curator, The Kyoto Costume Institute, will deliver the keynote address at GOMA Cinema A, to kick of the festivities.This is free and no bookings are required, but I’d advise rocking up a little earlier than 11 am to get prime seats, so you’re not stuck with squinting and giving yourself premature wrinkles.
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The following events will need an exhibition ticket to gain entry; visit QAGOMA for more information. From 1 pm, Tarun Nagesh, Assistant Curator, Asian Art will lead you into the ‘Future Beauty’ exhibition spaces for specific insights into the exhibition. This is your chance to soak up all the highlights, and brag to all your friends on all the amazing fashion you saw, while they were trawling through the sales racks at Topshop with no aircon on a Saturday afternoon.
The exploration of Japanese fashion continues with Akira Isogawa, one of the featured designers in the exhibition and recognised as one of Australia’s most talented and celebrated fashion designers. He will be talking with Alison Kubler, curator and writer, and co-author of ‘Art/Fashion in the 21st Century’ (Thames & Hudson). To gain insight into one of Australia’s leading fashion designers is rare, so this talk will be invaluable to all those aspiring fashion designers. Come 3 pm, Christine St Clair, owner and buyer, Comme Des Garçons Pocket store, Melbourne, will speak about the philosophy and vision of this global fashion house.
The following day will host the first Future Fashion Sundays; a monthly event that includes workshops, talks, and special events. This day will be a much more intimate setting and hands on. The Fabric & Garment Swap at GOMA Bodhi Tree Terrace is a free event hosted by The Stitchery Collective, an independent fashion-based artist-run initiative. Dr Nadia Buick, freelance fashion curator and Co-Director of The Fashion Archives will be joined by writer Mitchell Oakley Smith to discuss fashion publishing as an example of the many intersections between art and fashion.
QAGOMA is killing it at the moment with all their upcoming exhibitions and Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion will not disappoint. Coming from someone who appreciates fashion but self admittedly cannot pull of fashion trends; for example, me wearing Birkenstocks transforms me into some senile asian grandpa who chases off crows from the goat feed on his two hectare farm, this exhibition will not only satisfy my historical curiosity but my love for fashion.
For more information on other related upcoming events visit QAGOMA’s website
Category: FASHION, FEATURED, Uncategorized
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