Framing Fashion and Architecture at Future Beauty

Exhibition through February 6 '11

Barbican Gallery
London

The current exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion, explores the unique sensibility of Japanese design through its embodiment in avant-garde fashion, and is the first exhibition in Europe to comprehensively survey it’s evolution.

Organised thematically, the show demonstrates the way in which the pieces selected embody wider design principles and inspirations such as ‘ma’ (the void between objects) and ‘Wabi-Sabi’ (finding beauty in imperfection).

As well as showing some highly collectible and rare pieces from designers such as Issey Miyake, who features prominently, alongside Rei Kawakubo ,Yohji Yamamoto and ‘techno-couturier’ Junya Watanabe; it is the material and architectural construction innovations demonstrated which are of particular interest in a wider design context.

Whether it is Miyake’s older project ‘A-poc’, envisioning a revolution in garment construction and consumption, or his recent ‘132.5’, which sees seemingly 2 dimensional geometric pieces unfold upon the body to become complex sculptural forms; there is a clear demonstration of the impact that these designers have had across fields such as product design, art direction, interiors and most strikingly architecture.

This link and reciprocal relationship between Japanese fashion and architecture in structure, display and desire is explored in ‘Framing Fashion and Architecture’, a talk being given on 9th December as part of a series of events to complement the show. The discussion panel will host architect and designer of Future Beauty Sou Fujimoto, Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic , acclaimed architect Sophie Hicks, forecaster and architectural lecturer, Cher Potter and Yuki Sumner, author of 'New Architecture in Japan' (Merrell, 2010).

Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion

Framing Fashion and Architecture discussion

132.5 by Issey Miyake

132.5 by Issey Miyake

132.5 by Issey Miyake

General view of the exhibition