The value of the ephemeral, by Yuima Nakazato
Utakata, or the value of the ephemeral, in a society that, on the contrary, seems to seek functionality and durability. This is how a collection linked to the opera Idomeneo is presented, a collection that is bound to leave no one indifferent.
It was 1781 when the great Amadeus Mozart gave birth to one of his most beautiful works: Idomeneo, a work that tells the story of the fall from grace of this proud monarch of Crete who is set upon and dethroned by the god of the sea.
Some two and a half centuries later, Idomeneo arrived last February at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in Switzerland, directed by the Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and ready to become a new interpretation of this classic tale of human suffering due to the disasters of the ancient Greek wars.
An opportunity, not only to attend the performance of a classic, but also to contemplate a totally different costume created by Yuima Nakazato.
For the Japanese designer, it also becomes the collection with which he invites us to enjoy this spring-summer season.
For the creation of this collection, the Japanese designer sought inspiration directly in Crete, where the story of Idomeneo took place and where the pristine turquoise blue waters surrounded the Trojan War that took place many centuries ago in this beautiful landscape.
A landscape that for Nakazato has served as the starting point for a profound reflection on the meaning and value of the ephemeral in the society in which we live.
Utakata, or that ephemeral value, is the term on which Yuima Nakazato has built a collection in which he has sought to construct through the constituent garments a totally ephemeral armour for the wearer, very similar to the delicate bubbles that form on the surface of water, capable of disappearing in the blink of an eye.
An approach in which the ephemeral seems to become a kind of renunciation of battle, a true liberation.
Thus is born a collection based on battle clothes whose aim is not exactly ephemerality, but rather durability and permanence over time.
Clothing that is furthermore far removed from artifice and decorative elements.
With this collection, Yuima Nakazato seeks to show the evolution of clothing that could have been otherwise; a collection born from the contradictory existence of delicate and fragile armour created from shredded textiles recovered from worn-out uniforms and work clothes, and decorated with ceramics, glass, and platinum.
A clear attempt to merge, then, the delicate and fragile handmade elements of haute couture with the evolutionary path followed by men’s clothing since antiquity.
