Relay Column: Collaborative Work with the "Already Existing" – Fashion Design in Time (Shintaro Akasaka)

The reason why fashion moves our hearts is perhaps because it gives shape to our fleeting and ambiguous desire to capture "the present," skillfully converting our emotions into images and messages that "appear" to us. In the video of Prada's Spring / Summer 2022 Men's Collection, a bright blue beach was set up at the end of a tunnel-like maze (1). The models, dressed in hats and sunglasses, combined geometric patterns with tank tops and botanical pattern hoodies. They emerged onto the beach wearing their leather shoes as they exited the tunnel. The image, forecasting liberation from the confinement of stay-at-home, made me want to exclaim, "I've been waiting for this scene!"

Fashion shows us what our current situation looks like, at all levels, such as items and their designs, how people dress, and trends (2). The often used judgement of being "in the now" does not occur when the object before our eyes matches the preconceived notion of "currentness" in our minds, but rather, it comes unexpectedly when our hearts find a place to settle in the given image.