Week 8 Post 3 - Going Against Creative Norms
Henry Romain
My reaction to my research on Rei Kawakubo is a sense of perplexity. Rei goes against many of the creative ideas, concepts, and principles I have researched before. In my opinion, she is the most creative designer I know of. What was most interesting about her is her purposeful lack of inspiration and influence and her commitment to new ideas. She pays absolutely no regard to the traditions or history of fashion, and because of this everything she makes is unconventional. Her creative intentions seem to mainly be focused around creating entirely new designs and to communicate emotions in a very raw way. She also considers herself to not be making clothes, but rather "objects for the body". By doing this, she frees herself from the boundaries of fashion and what is considered clothing, because she is creating nothing more than objects to be worn.
A question or thought I have with regards to Rei Kawakubo is this; how does she translate an internal emotion she feels into the intricate and complex objects she designs? How does she decide what encapsulates an emotion and what doesn't?
Where does her "internal emotion" come from? Was she born with an innate ability to be creative? How does this information fit with what you have learned so far in the course? What is the connection?
ReplyDeleteIt would be hard to say where Rei's internal emotion comes from. She does not do many interviews, and she has never explicitly stated what her views and/or emotions are. If I had to guess, her emotions likely come from a dislike of "easy" fashion. She puts this information into her outlandish designs and proves that she makes "hard" fashion. Rei seems to be a creative anomaly and does not fit in with what I have learned so far in the course. There is no search for inspiration, and her creative process is hidden and not made public. I think the one connection to what I have learned though is that the problem she sees in the world is designers and brands "easily" producing clothes and she wants to make clothes that must be labored over extensively.
ReplyDelete