IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER! Noritaka Tatehana "Atom" Collection 2012

"In order to assert one's own power, people have created various "things" and have vied with each other. They were things people were not suppose to deal with in the first place, but they have become the symbol of power and having been undoubtedly accepted by some, they have integrated into our everyday life. The concept of atom in the philosophical sense means "the smallest indivisible component of matter". Since the huge enarthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011, people around the world were left to ponder over a variety of things. Aren't there just too many things we can't do without in our lives these days? Aren't we facing the urgent need to reconsides the fundamentals of life before we ourselves become "invisible" from that which exceeds the permissile parameters of our control? I have never felt "death" so close to me as on the day of that earthquake. I will never forget how much I was encouraged by messages from around the world."

Noritaka Tatehana was born into a family running a public bathhouse, Kabuki-yu, in Kabukicho, an entertainment district located in the center of Tokyo. His father is a president of a company and his mother is an instructor of Waldorf dolls, used in Waldorf or Steiner education. Noritaka was raised in Kamakura, where he initially started making dresses and shoes, all self-taught, when he was 15. He studied Fine Arts and Sculpture at the Tokyo National University of the Arts, later majored in dyeing and weaving. He did a research on “Oiran” or the courtesans of high rank in Edo period (1600-mid 1800). In the meantime, he created kimonos and getas (Japanese clogs) using Yuzen, the traditional Japanese dyeing method. In 2010, he established his own maison, “NORITAKA TATEHANA”. Every step of the manufacturing process of his shoes are handcrafted by the designer himself. Not only are his collection pieces held with admiration in the fashion industry, but they draw attention from the art world as well and his works are widely known to be loved by Lady Gaga and Daphne Guinness.

BOUTIQUE NORITAKA TATEHANA, http://boutique.noritakatatehana.co

Trading Museum COMME des GARÇONS Tokyo, 2F Gyre, 5-10-1 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku Tokyo 150-0001, Japan

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