Tasuki — 襷—
Bishonen (皒幓“), ‘beautiful boys’ in Japanese, are disrupting European gender codes. With their long hair, fine features and graceful attitudes, they claim a new aesthetic, sensitive to feminine appreciation.
The fluidity of gender, coupled with the refinement of Japanese craftsmanship, merge in this collection, whose artisanal techniques and aesthetic references result from peregrinations and apprenticeships in urban and rural Japan.
Body sculptures, made of bamboo and leather, meet archetypal European garments, reshaping the way they fall and are worn on the body. Inspired by Japanese kimono knotting techniques, traditionally created by the Tasuki, these delicate organic pieces dialogue with the textures and patterns of garments. The contrast on the bare skin of a dark sculpture interacts graphically with the stripes of a sailor jersey, draping it and subtly revealing the back.
The deployment of bamboo sculptures on the body thus offers possibilities for combination with a variety of garments, enabling the wearer to reappropriate and diversify their personal wardrobe, according to the fluidity of their gender identity.
Mood board
This project follows a two-year research project in Japan on bamboo craftsmanship and its applications in Japanese art and design. The strong ties created with the craftsmen she met there enabled her to apprentice with Tanaka KYOKUSHO, one of the leading figures on the contemporary Japanese Kogei scene.
Immersed in the Japanese mountains, this specialized training enabled her to acquire the basics of the craft, from the cutting of a raw bamboo cane to the creation of a piece of extreme finesse. Back in France, she wishes to create a project in which this craft and its ecological and philosophical values would be passed on through application to the field of clothing and accessories. Bamboo has great adaptability potential, but is little explored in France, mainly due to a lack of know-how.
Following new developments in natural coloring processes and the association of bamboo with leather, she has developed a collection of seven body accessories. These bamboo sculptures offer a new form of ornamentation for the body, linking and interacting with pieces of clothing, offering an alternative to the over-consumption of clothing through the reinterpretation and appropriation of our existing classic wardrobe, in line with a contemporary gender identity, aesthetic and ecological questioning.
Partnership
Leather bag | Les compagnons du Devoir |
Leather cords | Argopel |
Japanese Lacquer | Blandine Hamon |