Fashion Designer: NATSUKI SHIGETA
“How about a kinky punk yukata? It seems crazy, but our philosophy is to be authentic. This craziness could just be the high road in Japan! We also have a range of really coooooool accessories.”
Born in 1971 and with a degree from Nihon University in architecture, she designs a line of kimono, obi, and geta shoes in Japan under the name Tsukikageya. In 2004 she opened a shop in Shibuya, the fashion mecca of Tokyo. She also styles for magazine and films.
For Natsuki, the Obi, the traditional Japanese kimono belt, and the Yukata, the traditional Kimono cotton robe, define classic Japanese style. Her passion for both have driven her to create obis and kimonos since 2001 under her eponymous label. But these aren’t your everyday Japanese robes, belts and shoes; Even though she uses authentic materials, conventional patterns and employs only traditional craftsmanship, the textile patterns themselves, what she calls “smart punk”, have raised a few eyebrows. Hearts, stars, yen bills, animal prints, western hairstyles and Japanese hairstyles, a collection of abstract mouths, some smoking cigarettes – these are some of the images featured on a Tsukikageya robe. Natsuki points out that this kind of quirkiness is at the heart of Japanese authenticity. Honoring tradition while pushing boundaries is the essence of what she does.
THE INTERVIEW
wwm: Who wears your Yukata robes?
NS: Fashion lovers. Even people who are uninterested in a yukata, they wear TSUKIKAGEYA’s.
wwm: How do you come up with the ideas for the textile designs?
NS: They just pop up, suddenly, without any thread or any context. Especially at the last minute!
wwm: What is the best thing anyone has ever said about your designs?
NS: The best comment was being called “unorthodox.” People almost always say “punk” or “new” to my yukata!
wwm:Tell us how to wear the robe.
NS: You can wear with “Obi” like a traditional way, or also you can wear with western clothes. I’m happy if you can find a glamorous way to wear, anyhow.
wwm: Who are your favorite bands, favorite artists?
NS: Lou Reed!!
wwm: What’s your most prized possession?
NS: Good food.
August: London Design Festival 2010 Preparation Update
Help! I am trapped by my WordPress template! I have been afraid to just simply blog because I have a magazine style site where I forgo my writerly urges to post the result of my endless female creativity talent search. Women who I find through my endless trolling for the best of the best in all manners of creative entrepreneurship, innovation, problem solving, and fresh cultural expression. But I want to be able to do both. I want to be a regular blogger too. I’m seeking a web developer to help me get there. Consider this a RFP.
I am researching the various ways to go to market, communicate, and stay simple. I love the possibilities available through QR codes, any way to bring a story to life and integrate story with the things we make. Also, not that this is my domain but I think how can these women with these ingenious ideas and amazing designs produce in small quantities so the fog of supply chain doesn’t wary them from getting down to business.
Got Future of Manufacturing On The Brain
From Makerbot to Ponoko to all the myriad of personal manufacturing possibilities championed by Thingiverse, the dream is there but the access to tools have not caught up. And when they do, what will that even look like? Dreaming and communicating ideas ad infinitum is one thing but materializing ad infinitum is quite another. But back to brass tacks..
It’s August now so everything moves slower but the fact is I can’t. I have a 9 amazing designers to show off before the big day when Designers Block opens on September 22nd, I have an event to prepare for at the Sense Loft on the 23rd of September and then the rest of the London Design Festival with Tiffany, Edyta, Ai, Chisato, Natsuki, Shuyu, Tiffany and Lynn (and now possibly 1-2 more, we’ll see) up through the 26th. Then two days later I fly to New York to get ready for my wedding in October. I’m also tending to my secret other project that takes up a bundle of editing time. (No its not a book about women or design or anything like that, it truly is ‘other’.)
Anyway, that’s me in a nutshell right now. I just had a nightmarish trip to Andalucia, a slight diversion a bit like a horror movie short if you will, but I’m back in hot as hell Barcelona sitting in my Borne apartment with Peter while he edits photographs and I write. I’ll end this now and I’ll be back with more in the next few days.
Please stay with us as we unfold the What Women Make exhibit at DesignersBlock during the London Design Festival. I’m very excited. I couldn’t have asked for more talented people to showcase.
-Chauncey
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