At first glance, designer Ryunosuke Okazaki’s runways suggest distant futures. His models are ornate in lustrous, surrealist silhouettes, and his dresses are technically impressive, expressing a forward-thinkingness in daring sculptural swirls.
But the forms in fact correspond to an archaic lineage, informed by the religious ornamentation of Jomon-era Japan (a prehistoric period between 4,000 and 300 BCE) and the chromatics of Shintoist symbolism. As his hallucinatory garments have gathered international attention, the Tokyo Fashion Week newcomer stole the limelight in his 2022 Spring Ready-to-Wear collection with its boundless movement erupting from material.
Okazaki’s abstract swirls are made with polyester, cotton, ribbed knits and knitted swatches, so it will be interesting to follow his work in the next few years and see if he will be able to reduce some of these extravagant designs and make them more wearable, reinventing knitwear in an intriguingly original way.
For the time being, though, Okazaki’s made-to-order creations deserve a place in a museum exhibition or in a futuristic movie, ballet or play.
Aron Neville
2016