Remembering BASARA and the Titans of Modern Japanese Fashion
The death of Kenzo Takada so soon after the loss of Kansai Yamamoto has encouraged my investigation into Japan’s modern sartorial heritage
Takada Kenzo(高田 賢三) died on Sunday 4th October 2020 at the age of 81 after suffering from COVID-19. The founder of Kenzo — an internationally renowned brand showcasing the colour and adventure of one of Japan’s most unconventional designers, Takada leaves behind a legacy of globalising Japan’s modern fashion industry.
It is difficult not to reflect now, after the loss of two great titans of Japanese fashion design in 2020: Kenzo Takada in October and Kansai Yamamoto (山本 寛斎) in July, on how Japanese fashion has evolved in the late twentieth century and the imprint both, have left on the Japanese runway today.
Many similarities connect the Takada and Yamamoto. The two designers grew up in post-war, US-occupied Japan; argued to have inspired their oxymoronic bright designs, an aesthetic sometimes described as “wild maximalism”, surrealism, and BASARA. The New York Times in 2014 even defined Yamamoto as “fashion’s ultimate fantasist”, a testament to the imagination and playfulness of his designs. Yamamoto in particular was understood as fundamentally Basara (ばさら) inspired.
Where does “Basara” come from?
The term historically sources back to Japan’s Medieval period, most notably the Sengoku or Warring States period (c.1476–1615). During the Sengoku and into the Edo period sumptuary laws (laws designed to restrict outward displays of wealth and luxury, most notably in clothing, but even in food and furniture) were enacted to regulate consumption and maintain a strict and immobile social hierarchy. It was here that Basara is understood as a sartorial statement against the elites, class restrictions, and authority.
With Basara linked to the colour and dynamism of ancient Japanese pottery, samurai, youth, and street culture, it is no surprise that it has gained popularity again in the modern age. A significant departure from the Japanese aesthetics of “Zen” or wabi-sabi (appreciating beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature) that has become so popular in the West, Basara provides a different interpretation of what a Japanese aesthetic could be: loud, colourful, and unashamedly different.
As shown in the garment below, Yamamoto more directly drew on aspects of Edo-period art and style. Woodblock prints, tattoos, and traditional Japanese motifs combined with bright contrasting saturated colours and manipulated shapes; these characteristics demonstrate Yamamoto’s desire to be unique, unapologetic, and original whilst still maintaining a historical link. His designs refused to conform to the gentile Western-friendly pastel palette or delicate patterns that had become the image of “Japanese-ness” throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Origins of greatness
Both designers studied at the Bunka Fashion College in Shinjuku, Tokyo, at one point or another. Originally a small dressmaking school for girls, Bunka college has become one of the most famous fashion schools across Japan. Takada became the first male admitted to the college in 1958, giving fashion moguls a reason to follow his first movements in the fashion world — he had already garnered a reputation for being unique.
Takada had always been drawn to the Parisian designs of Yves Saint Laurent, Coco Chanel, and Christian Dior, and these figures influenced the shapes and lines of his designs. He lived in Paris from 1965 until his death. After moving to Paris with limited funds of €200 Takada had to combine a variety of cheap patterns, textures, and fabrics to create his garments. This technique of mixing and matching is what would later characterise his surrealist approach to the clothing designs at Kenzo.
While Takada was inextricably drawn to primarily Parisian and Eastern-European trends, Yamamoto travelled across the channel to London where he became the first Japanese designer to present his designs on a British runway and in 1971 was the first Japanese designer to appear at London Fashion Week. Inevitably in the early 1970s, his Basara, theatrical, visionary designs on the runways drew the attention of the biggest names in music such as David Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust tour in 1972–3. After this, Yamamoto was thrust even more into the spotlight and in the following years designed outfits for Elton John, Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, and Lady Gaga, producing avant-garde garments that evolved through the decades.
Japanese fashion in British museums
Most recently the V&A re-opened their new “Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk” exhibition curated by Anna Jackson attempted to draw all the threads of the Kimono’s sartorial history together, to be considered for one of the first time from a global perspective. You can see the online exhibition with a curatorial tour here. The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is just one example of the institutional intrigue of Japanese fashion in Western heritage and demonstrates the global dynamism of Japan’s sartorial development since the late 20th century.
As far back as the Great Exhibitions across Europe and America in the late nineteenth century and the Japan-London exhibition in 1910, there has been an inherent curiosity with traditional Japanese (particularly female) fashion. However, it was not until the 21st century that Western exhibitions have attempted to properly represent the diverse interpretations of Japanese fashion history; the public was finally allowed to see Basara up close, and it revolutionised our image of Japan.
The V&A has always been particularly enamoured with Japanese fashion and in 2018 both Yamamoto and Takada were involved in the performance exhibition “Fashion in Motion”. Kansai Yamamoto also spoke at the event about his inspirations and influences which Japan House London summarised here.
Reflections
Japan’s fashion landscape will forever be influenced by these two groundbreaking designers and the Basara they injected into modern Japanese haute couture and street fashion. Globalisation has allowed the West to experience, enjoy and interact with a new layer of Japan’s sartorial history and alongside this, the entire world has fallen in love with the transcendency of cultural boundaries in Takada’s designs, the wild, Edo-inspired prints of Yamamoto and more! They will both be greatly missed in the industry and by every fashion mogul, critic, and fan.
In an interview in 2016, Yamamoto Kansai said “It is clear that I don’t want to live unnoticed.” …He, and Takada Kenzo, will continue to never be unnoticed.
哀悼の意を表します.
