YUIMA NAKAZATO’s wish for the environment and gender in his clothing and his art of innovation

An exhibition celebrating the 15th anniversary of YUIMA NAKAZATO, led by Japanese designer Yuima Nakazato, who has been presenting his work in Paris haute couture since 2016, is on view through February 16, 2025.
　
The exhibition, centered on a retrospective held in Calais, France, displays a portion of the latest collection “FADE” along with a two-season collection developed from the process of creating costumes for the opera “Idomeneo,” which opened in Switzerland in February 2024. After passing through the aisle that traces the history of past collections with photographs, you will find the “UTAKATA” and “UNVEIL” collections lined up with design sketches.
　
You would be overwhelmed by the creativity of haute couture, which is the result of meticulous handwork and extensive research, and as they proceed deeper into the exhibition, the “FADE” collection stands in a serene, cave-like space with natural objects and sketches that are members of its story. Stepping into the seemingly silent desert-like space, the members of the collection noisily and eloquently tell their history. In the metropolis of Roppongi, with its horns blaring, the landscapes are changing mercilessly, and one thinks of the afterimages that have accumulated over the years.

Yuima Nakazato is a pioneer who uses the non-verbal language of fashion to advance science and industrial technology through the use of precise design. He illuminates the path to a way of being based on sustainability, rather than a transient concept in accordance with market strategies.
　
Nakasato’s sincere approach to sustainability was highly praised in the film “DUST TO DUST,” which was released in 2024. He has been revolutionizing the structural concept of clothing through cutting-edge technology, precise design, and dreamlike esthetics. The film, however, exposed the horrific situation at a Kenyan garbage dump where mass-produced clothes were piled up, and gave viewers a visceral shock through Nakazato’s experience of visiting the site.
　
The film depicts how Nakazato took clothing sold in the trash heap and reclaimed it, transforming it into the world’s best creations. In the fashion industry, the second most polluting industry in the environment, presenting a collection at a formal fashion week means belonging to the highest level system that encourages consumption. The contradictions and conflicts that arise from daring to present sustainability in this context are surely at the root of YUIMA NAKAZATO’s creations.

Continuing to confront haute couture is like Activism

Unlike prêt-à-porter, in which collections are usually presented in major cities such as Paris, Milan, and New York and then efficiently mass-produced, haute couture is a one-of-a-kind creation in which measurements, patterns, and sewing are taken one by one upon receiving an order. It is one of the origins of fashion and a system that flaunts aesthetics and skill as a sublime and authoritative presence for brands. Why did Nakazato dare to choose haute couture as a platform, which is differentiated from the mainstream and inefficient?
　
“I believe that the act of tailoring one garment for the wearer is in itself a very primitive act. Although the state in which the maker and the wearer are close is rare nowadays, the fact that people are stepping on the sewing machine to make clothes even in mass production remains unchanged even today. However, because it is done in distant foreign lands, the sense of people making the clothes is waning, and they are becoming meaningless. Therefore, I think that today is an important time for wearers to remember that people intervene in clothing.”

There is a term “artistic journalism,” and if art is to convey a message by daring to replace it with something nonverbal, then I wonder what kind of design would be created if the impact of clothing on the global environment is conveyed without words, what kind of feelings would be felt when wearing it.
　
I think it is also necessary for designers to design how the message will be conveyed to people who see the garment. That is why I think it is important to properly design the parts that are not directly visible, such as materials and techniques, to convey a message, and at the same time, how to create transparency is also important.

Yuima Nakazato was raised by parents who were highly conscious of environmental issues from an early age. Caught between heavy topics, he spent many years unable to connect the word “sustainability” and social issues with his pure sense of enjoyment and love of fashion. Within the last 10 years, when the tide of the world has changed, he has been able to actively communicate and connect more easily.

The antithesis of masculinity, sparked by making of operatic costumes

The two collections on display, “UTAKATA” and “UNVEIL,” are both related to the production of costumes for the opera “Idomeneo” in Switzerland, and the works created by intertwining the traditions and techniques accumulated at YUIMA NAKAZATO with the world view of modern artist Chiharu Shiota, who worked on the stage art, have been highly acclaimed as contemporary comprehensive art. The resulting work was highly acclaimed as a contemporary, comprehensive work of art. Nakazato visited Crete in the Aegean Sea, the setting of the piece, to create the costumes, and developed the design based on ancient ruins, armor, and other old materials. In contrast to “UNVEIL,” which features a delicate yet dynamic design on a stage constructed with red threads as the sea, “UTAKATA” takes its starting point from masculine symbols that have been passed down through generations since ancient times. What was the message behind the collection, with models wearing scaled armor that made beautiful sounds and tear-like makeup?

When I think about what fashion can do for society, I look around at the wars and leaders in the world and see that the symbol of the white male in a suit is still the same. In fashion, Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and many other designers have empowered women, but as a man myself, I wonder how we can break down this unchanging masculinity that still remains. I wonder how we can further dismantle it. I wondered if it was possible to create a worldview in which men could wear decorative elements, a trend that has been eliminated in today’s world of functionalism and minimalism. I thought it would be a message to break down the machismo of being strong with a kind of armor made of brittle and fragile materials.”

Significance of showing attitudes toward gender along with Oriental identity

YUIMA NAKAZATO’s shows have been structured in such a way that the women’s and men’s collections have been divided in half since the first haute couture show, which is said to be very unusual historically. The clear division between men and women is due to the strong influence of the concept of Christianity, which has taken root in Europe since ancient times.

A new step forward with the collection FADE in 2025

The latest collection “FADE” in January 2025 was created by recalling the prehistoric times and the myth of the giant catfish as it moved through the White Desert of Egypt. Furthermore, the creations are spun out after pursuing thoughts on “the dignity of human beings trying to be beautiful”.
　
“I have always been inspired by something outside to create, but this time I am challenging myself to create my own stories and worldviews. Comparing the photos of the desert and the collection on the 52nd floor of Roppongi, it seems to me that even an unrealistic worldview such as the desertification of Tokyo could become a completely different world from the one we take for granted when we are exposed to this climate change and dynamic changes in the environment. I would be happy if you could warp in various ways while imagining such things.
　
I hope that the photos of Asian men in the Sahara Desert will make viewers think about the present Tokyo and the earth, and as they ponder the significance of the existence of humans as the only creatures who wear clothes, the meaning of borrowing clothes from other people to wear them, and what it means to be human, that they may find their entire existence mysterious. I think it would be interesting if people could think about it in such a way.”

Nither black nor white, but the existence that the makes people to think

「”I was conscious of this in DUST TO DUST, but when I learned that Western society tends to clearly depict evil and justice when addressing social issues, it somehow didn’t feel right. So, I felt that it would be more comfortable for me, as a communicator, to keep things in the gray, leaving the answer to the viewer, without making things too black and white. I think it has a greater impact in the sense that it is less likely to cause confrontation and has the potential to appeal to people on either side of the issue. I hope that this exhibition will be similarly like that, leaving things up to the people who are looking at it.”