The atomic bombing in the summer of ’45 marked the end of Japan’s imperialist ambitions. The country, destroyed and traumatized, faced the task of reinventing itself. This included a radical reassessment of cultural traditions. Fashion designers such as Rei Kawakubo (COMME des GARÇONS), Yoshi Yamamoto and Issey Miyake, who survived Hiroshima seriously injured as a child, proved to be innovative and style-setting. They deconstructed classic Japanese fashion and combined it with Western cutting techniques.
The print of this coat imitates a traditional, extremely intricate weaving technique called “ikat” (the word comes from Malay). In this process, the yarn is dyed in sections even before it is processed. This partial dyeing creates irregular transitions during weaving.