Event Reviews
LIGHT, light…RIGHT?
This is the report of what promised to be an incredible breakthrough in the trance scene: An Issey Miyake Fashion show, clothes designed by Organix, music played by Tsuyoshi, in Paris in 1997. As one of very few invited to attend, I was fuming that Stu of Dream Creation didn’t publish this article because he “didn’t have room”…
Issey Miyake Fashion Show
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris
July 3, 1997Psychedelia in the real world
Since my introduction to the psychedelic trance scene, I have often wondered how it would break into other media and how it would be received. With 2 tracks by Juno Reactor in Hollywood movies and one by the Green Nuns on a VO5 commercial, it seems as though the infiltration is beginning. A truly stunning exhibition of sonic and visual psychedelic artistry took place in early July in Paris: the Issey Miyake men's collection for Spring/Summer 1998 featured clothing prints by Organix (of Matsuri artwork fame) with the music for the runway show played by Tsuyoshi (of Matsuri music fame).
The setting
The setting was the famous Institut du Monde Arabe: a large window-paned room and atrium on the 9th floor, overlooking a sunset behind the Nortre Dame Basilica, proved to be a most ideal location. The windowed walls were lined with light-sensitive metal hexagon-shaped apertures, which were alluded to by the six-sided invitation, thereby cleverly planting a seed which blossomed once one arrived at the venue. The stunning inviation itself featured various layers unfolding like a lotus flower, revealing ever-more complex artwork and cut-out shapes, until one reached the gem inside - a special CD single of Geomantik. Ingenious!
Opening time
As the 8:30 starting time approached, a small crowd assembled outside the Insitut. In true French tradition, a swarm arrived at precisely 8:35. The organizers had intended to start one hour late to stir up excitement and allow Tsuyoshi to tease the crowd with ambient music. The real cause for excitement was the fact that doubt was cast as to whether all invitation holders would be allowed in, as the safety limit had apparently been reached. Those with assigned seats were ushered in, while those with standing places were left outside wondering whether they would get in. Despite indications that only SOME would be allowed in, everyone was eventually permitted to enter, and we made our own modeling debuts as we walked down the runway to get to our places (with this writer's Space Tribe outfit eliciting audible responses).
The show
Tsuyoshi was weaving a lovely laid-back vibe as an orange sun began its descent, and soon after, the show began. The theme of "LIGHT, light...right?" began as the models walked in silence down the runway in lightweight white clothes - silently, that is, until some prat, evidently oblivious of the intended effect, yelled "Music!" (as if Tsuyoshi was unaware that there was no sound!). Then the psychedelic infiltration began, as Tsuyoshi started to build musically while the clothes became more and more like the evocative settings that Matsuri fans have come to expect of Organix. While some were not explicitly psychedelic (they were not dissimilar to some of the louder designs in haute couture, notably Ferre and Versace), others were spacey in the extreme. The rainwear, featuring delicate, highly-refined prints, seemed to me to be a wonderful alternative to the bin-liner-chic look usually found at rainy outdoor parties. Some of the T-shirts featured psychedelic patchworks of tremendous detail and imagination, assimilating a wide variety of shapes, textures, colours, and dimensions. Breathtaking stuff.
Post mortem
As the setting sun disappeared behind the clouds, the 40-minute show drew to an end and a reception took place on an adjoining outdoor terrace. While the clothes and venue were successful beyond all expectations, the show itself was not at the same level. The models were all of the pouting-19-year-old-Narcissistic-hunk vintage, most of whom shuffled and slouched more than their hard-earned physiques ought to have allowed. Musically, Tsuyoshi did not appear have the freedom one might have hoped for. The music seemed preselected, and he had to change tracks as the clothes changed, occasionally simply fading out of one track and into the other - hardly an opportunity for him to display his renowned technical and musical proficiency. While the music was never less than excellent (Ololiuqui and Manmademan were memorable), it was not explicitly psychedelic. That is, those who know psychedelic music would hear it as such, but those to whom the genre was unfamiliar might only hear it as regular techno. So much of the clothing was so digital and psychedelic that more digitally electronic, twisted (yet beautiful) tracks might have built a stronger bridge between the assaulted senses of sight and sound. Nevertheless, this was a marvelous branching out of psychedelic culture into a more traditional and high-profile arena, one which could have far-reaching implications. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for what will follow.
Postscript: The collection designed by Organix was in Miyake boutiques for a while, and other fashion shows of this variety followed in Tokyo (referred to in “You never know…”). At an Issey Miyake retrospective event in Paris a couple of years later, there was not a trace of evidence that this collection had ever been designed – its absence was glaringly obvious in the section devoted to Miyake’s “cutting-edge” designs…Strange.
© 2003 Mark Ainley
