The special feature "Cycles of Life: The Past & Future of Apparel" is presented by Yoshikazu Yamagata, designer of the fashion label writtenafterwards and also the host of the fashion learning platform "coconogacco." This time, we welcome Takashi Ikegami, who is engaged in the research of complex systems and artificial life, and Ryoko Uno, who is engaged in the research of linguistic creativity, to look at fashion from the perspective of life.
We present dialogues from various aspects that have been explored in this special feature, such as co-creation with plants and animals, clothing and agriculture, and life.
PROFILE
Takashi Ikegami
Professor, Department of General Systems Studies, University of Tokyo. Specializes in complex systems science and artificial life.
In 2018, he chaired the ALife International Conference. Numerous keynote speeches at the 2020 Conf. Complex Systems, the 2019 SWARM International Conference, etc. His publications include "動きが生命をつくる" (Seidosha 2007), "人間と機械のあいだ" (co-authored, Kodansha, 2016), "作って動かすALife" (co-authored, O'Reilly Japan, 2018), etc. He has also been involved in art activities such as "Filmachine" (with Keiichiro Shibuya, YCAM 2006), "MindTime Machine" (YCAM, 2010), "Scary Beauty" (with Keiichiro Shibuya, 2018), and ALTER the Android KAGURA (2020).
PROFILE
Ryoko Uno
Professor, Division of Language and Culture Sciences at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. Specializes in cognitive linguistics.
She completed her doctoral studies in the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, holding a Ph.D. in Arts and Sciences. Her research interests include the relationship between words and the mind's workings, particularly whether words spoken by the "self" are a part of the "self." She has analyzed the mechanisms by which new words are born in natural and artificial languages. In recent years, she has also attempted to apply linguistic analysis to human creative activities outside language, such as art and fashion design. Her publications include "オノマトペ研究の射程―近づく音と意味" (co-edited, Hituzi Syobo, 2013) and "実験認知言語学の深化" (co-edited, Hituzi Syobo, 2021). She has been a special lecturer at "coconogacco" since 2013.
PROFILE
Yoshikazu Yamagata
Fashion designer. Graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Fashion Design, Womenswear Course in 2005. Established his brand "writtenafterwards" in April 2007. In 2015, he was the first Japanese person to be nominated for the LVMH Prize. While working as a designer, he also runs "coconogacco," a place for experimentation and learning in fashion expression. In 2016, he served as a lecturer for the first course in Japan at the Fashion Design Department of Central Saint Martins College, and since 2018 has been a lecturer at Tokyo University of the Arts. In 2019, he was selected for BOF 500, organized by The Business of Fashion.
Clothing, Food, & Medicine
YamagataThe new writtenafterwards installation presented at the National Art Center, Tokyo on March 16 showcased clothes buried in the soil within glass cases. When considering the future of fashion, I believe that the 2020s will require thorough study and research. For the past 20 years, mass production and mass consumption have been the trend. However, the COVID-19 situation and environmental issues have made creators like myself feel the limits of this approach.
Thus, we created these clothes made from washi paper. While washi clothing has been around for a long time, recent studies have shown that the washi we use decomposes much faster back into the soil and even enriches it. We have initiated a project where the soil, enriched by clothing, would eventually be used to grow vegetables, connecting clothing to food.
Under the coined term "Fukushoku (服食, literally 'clothing, food')", we started to examine the relationship between clothes and the body, delving into the origins of clothing, medicine, and healthcare. Upon reflecting, the Japanese word "服" (fuku) is used in both clothing and medicine (such as in "服薬" which means taking medicine). There is even a term "外服" (external clothing) used historically, suggesting that people in the past linked outerwear with the condition inside their bodies. Clothing has inherently strong medical and healing connotations. In Japan's oldest mythological medical act, "The Hare of Inaba," a rabbit wraps its body in soft cattail down to heal its wounds. Cattail down was also used as padding in clothing, hinting at a deep connection between medical care and clothing. It seems feasible to prescribe clothing to patients as a form of medical treatment.
YamagataPeople might have forgotten this by the latter half of the 20th century, but fashion, historically, has strong agricultural ties. Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, where Uno teaches, once had a textile department. The university's roots trace back to those beginnings.
Uno147 years ago, at what is now Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, the government established places to study agriculture and sericulture. These became the genesis of the Faculty of Agriculture and the Faculty of Engineering at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. The sericulture experiment station eventually became the Faculty of Textile Science, and then the Faculty of Engineering.
