Fashion Universe: Highlighting fashion from all over the world, one designer at a time.

Vision

The purpose of this blog is to cover fashion from all over the world, highlighting designers and small business owners from specific countries we will exhibit each week. With that said, this blog not only intends to showcase fashion from different countries but also expose our viewers to other cultures and art on a more global scale.

By Denisse, Kim, and Carina  

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The Art of Harmony with Nature

September 19, 2022

Ryunosuke Okazaki

About (ryunosukeokazaki.com)

by Kimberly Thai

For today's blog, we will cover a young, Japanese designer's unique, architectural design collection that he produced during the pandemic. Ryunosuke Okazaki is a Japanese fashion designer born in Hiroshima, Japan 1995 who strived through many achievements from being awarded for Ikuo Hirayama Culture and Art Fund Scholarship at Tokyo University of the Arts to winning awards during exhibitions back in 2018 through 2021, and graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts. His designs are becoming well-known for their extravagant, bold details that exceed the technical and creative processes in his collection, Prayer. His collection illustrates the whimsical art of the mind and nature which is what immediately drew me in by his elaborate, bold designs because there were a lot of technical, unique art elements involving intricate details and movement which truly makes each of his avant-garde pieces look futuristic and unforgettable. The message Ryunosuke wanted to express through his collection was to reconnect with our minds back to the state of calmness and hope to allow ourselves to be set free from untold paths that can be blocked by uncertainty or fear of natural disasters because nature is beyond our control which is why many believed turning to prayer can help ease our worries and start to have faith once more so that we can find the motivation to bring, peace, justice and equality to make the world a better place for all of us. 

About. RYUNOSUKEOKAZAKI. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://ryunosukeokazaki.com/biography

Rakuten Fashion Week TOKYO Collection 2022: PRAY

1) For the first look, the structure of the dress gives off an air-like element, channeling the insect-like form with the use of shaped-like wings and spirals to replicate antennas. 

2) For the next dress, more structural elements are seen to be used to bring emphasis and drama below the waist by having two colors that contrast each other to create depth and interest.

3) For this dress, Ryunosuke continues to use dramatic, sculpted elements with sharp curves at the shoulders and down towards the legs. This time, he is being experimental by using different sizes and shapes just as nature comes in many forms.

4) Here, we are now starting to break away from the dark sharp, sculpted design elements to large, light-colored, flowy ruffles to maintain the bold dramatic theme.

5) In this look, the use of rounded shapes appears to be softer to balance out with the other colors in this dress, while still retaining the bold design elements.  

6) Here, the use of bold sculpted curves, spiral details around the chest and headdress, and the bold, bright pink color in this dress can be seen to resemble a starfish. 

7) Going back to the dramatic ruffle design, we are seeing the artistic element in the use of multiple colors with contrasting-colored outlining to make the dress stand out from afar.

8) Moving on to Ryunosuke's next design, even dramatic design elements can become minimalistic by creating jellyfish-like spirals for the maxi skirt while keeping the top in a solid color with dramatic sleeves to balance out the whole look.

9) In Ryunosuke's blue dress, most of the sculptural elements being used throughout his collection are made symmetrically and/or asymmetrically. This dress involves both where the "Elizabethan Collar" top style is symmetric while the skirt is asymmetric with the high-low style where the point is towards the front.

10) In this last dress, the art element comes through with the optical illusion print as the continued use of dramatic, bold, sculptural shapes creates movement, causing the eye to look in every direction where the black and white stripes flow.

(All images above on this post can be found on Ryunosuke Okazaki's Website) 

In conclusion, as illustrated by the images of Rynosuke's collection, his designs involve artistic, sculptural elements meant to be worn as an art piece rather than for functionality. Each and every color connects to what we would see and find that revolves around nature in its truest form, as the mind should be as well. Ryunosuke's unique, futuristic designs have truly taken art beyond heights in fashion. Stay tuned for next week's upcoming blog as we continue to look at fashion designers all around the world.

Next Week's Spotlight: Canada