A pink pig, and a pair of CdG's 2012 A/W very cool '2D' felt shorts, introduces this month's blog........
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| (Credit: www.design-dautore.com and Sophie Delaponte, photographer) |
the creative art of folding paper.
Origami goes back to about 6th/7th C. AD, which was apparently about the time that paper was introduced into Japan from.........
you guessed it,
China!
Japan was always very reliant on trees and forests for raw materials, because it was a country without many of the other mineral resources.
Ori/Oru translates as "folding"/"to fold"
Kami is "paper", but it can also mean "God", although the characters for each meaning are written differently. So paper has traditionally been regarded as sacred in Japan.
It is strongly associated with Shinto, Japan's national religion.
Zigzag shaped paper streamers, known as O-Shide or Shide are often used in Shinto rituals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qVf5TP5KtU
Japanese handmade paper is called "Washi". It is made from a pulp which contains various varieties of bark, in particular, mulberry bark. Washi has a special lightness and softness to it, yet it is also very strong and durable. Washi can withstand an astounding number of vertical folds, hence it is excellent for origami work.
This YouTube site provides some interesting information about Washi paper, if you want to know a little bit more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E-atPin7pQ
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| Self-portrait by Akira Yoshizawa |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBWspmCzYyg
Origami has been a strong inspiration throughout the fashion world. Many of origami's folding and pleating techniques, are worked into fabulous designs made from fabric, like this dress, featured on the cover of the Surface magazine (can't remember when, a few years ago now)
Clever origami folding involved in this cool creation.
Here is a good website to see some other fantastically origami inspired creations
http://ajurettemagablog.blogspot.co.nz/2010/11/origami-inspired-fashion-designs.htmlI like Alexandra Verschueren's work (it features in the above website). Her origami inspired work leads beautifully to one of Junya Watanabe CdG 's origami inspired collections, which is well examined in 'TheCuttingClass'...as I have said before, this is a great site for those of us who are into making clothes and admiring the clothes others make and how they do it.
Junya Watanabe presented an A/W 2000/01 collection, which shares similar features found in his A/W 2015 collection, particularly the honeycomb pom pom effect. Love this image...
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| Comme des Garcons Junya Watanabe Fall/Winter 2000, Kirsty R. Photographed by Rosemary for High Fashion Magazine October 2000 |
A favourite image from an Italian Vogue, showing one of the wonderful honeycomb pom pom creations from the 2000/2001 collection. Wonderful stylist/wonderful photographer, Italian Vogue..highly creative.
But, moving on...
I think the Japanese designers really have an edge on the origami cut in clothing, and Issey Miyake is one such maestro. He is a designer who has really explored origami folding within his design work.
Issey Miyake presented a wonderful A/W collection 2011 which truly demonstrated the art of origami in clothing.
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| An image from www.style.com |
This website will show the cool paper folding work that started the show, then the models coming out wearing the garments made from the paper patterns. Apparently , this was the last collection of Dai Fujiwara's for Issey Miyake.
http://thecuttingclass.com/post/3854263617/process-as-presentation-issey-miyake
Another cool collection (A/W 2012) presented by Issey Miyake, is '132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE' It is one of the latest lines from the Miyake Design Studio, and is Issey's actual first collection since he retired from the main Miyake line in 1999. 132 5. is definitely what you would call "wearable origami".
This website is a cool introduction to this collection. Good images and good information explaining the collection.
http://edelscope.com/2012/06/21/132-5-issey-miyake-autumnwinter-2012-origami-tribute-to-the-fashion-invention/
132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE was stimulated by computer graphics applications which are capable of starting out with a single plane to construct 3D constructs. With clothing, folding and creasing become the means to take the flat to the 3D.
Issey Miyake has always taken an in-depth approach to researching materials and manufacturing techniques. He collects a very strong and talented team around him who investigate, test and trial, then come up with the results required to make the collection a success.
The fabric required for 132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE is made from PET, polyethylene terephthalate, which is one of the most common thermoplastic polyester fibre. This fibre makes the 132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE designs possible because it provides the good heat setting required to achieve the permanent origami-like folds.
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| (Credit: www.thehourglassfiles.com) |
'1' is one piece of cloth that can become 3-D '3', then be refolded into its' 2-D '2' state again.
'5' after the space signifies the "temporal dimension that comes into being after clothing is worn by people", symbolising the "future"which is, "the next step forward".
"132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE not only combines the mathematics of folding techniques used in clothes-making and aesthetic sensibilities; but also explores new possibilities for making things" (www.isseymiyake.com).....wonderful, the Issey Miyake company always continue to think creatively!
A cool aspect of the 132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE collection is how the garments could be seen on a mannequin or model, while at their feet the same garment is flat, deflated and folded into beautiful patterns.
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| (Credit: www.artsthread.com) |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gdxhNnytSs
A connecting feature with Issey Miyake, is this work from a Yr.10 class I taught last year. Archana is modelling the results of her group's work carried out during an exam workshop. The brief was to create a wearable garment from almost anything bar fabric. I think this creation has a rather cool origami Issey Miyake look to it..
The comment above about the fabric that is required to achieve permanent folds, takes me back to some fantastic workshops on Fabric Manipulation I attended in London. We worked with synthetic fabric, origami folding and heat setting. Great fun
Some of this origami work was used as a stimulus for my Yr. 12's Fashion Event 'An Avant Garde Theme', which they finished a couple of weeks ago. Caryl's approach to a shift dress worked with this sort of thing
Sophie took this approach
I think some of Sophie's inspiration could have come from examples of geometric/origami work from www.wallpaper.com....'Heineken's: Fashion Design'
and I did put her onto this website. It has a great project for drawing a geometric dress ('D dress')
Regard 'CdG and origami', this image popped up
and this one
I'm fairly sure the t-shirt and quilted skirt come out of the S/S 2015 RTW collection, and the jacket is
from the A/W 2013 RTW collection. I love them both. The work that goes into creating the jacket is very thought provoking!
I'm wondering if something can be inspired from the above jacket, using this Issey Miyake jacket pattern, which has a wee hint of an origami fold...I'm going to give it a go!
Other images that always pop up re 'CdG & origami', is the 2013 S/S collection, which revolved around fold and crush.
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| My take on this origami/fold collection, love wearing this skirt, it's got a nice swing to it. |
Another amazing Japanese designer, who has produced a cool collection which reflects wonderful origami work, is Hiroaki Ohya. He studied at the Bunka School of Fashion in Tokyo, and eventually went to work for the Miyake Design Studio. This experience had an immense influence on him, as he is quoted as saying "I learned the spirit to develop to always seek or create from him"
In 1999 Ohya produced an amazing collection he called "The Wizard of Jeans". It was a series of books that transformed into clothes by folding...folding a flat plane into a 3D construction. The fabric the garments were made from ranged from denim to printed cotton. The denim was actually made from polyester, apparently "fakeness" was a major undercurrent running through this collection.
Much of Ohya's inspiration for "21 books" came from an old book he came across in a New York flea market. It was the fact that you could "see something from 50 years ago, the way it was 50 years ago". Ohya was very aware of the fleeting aspect of the fashion world, like his own creations vanish within 6 months. This seemed particularly so in Japan where it is "produce, throw away, produce, throw away". So, Ohya's "Wizard of Jeans/21 books" collection was commenting on the way he saw the fashion industry....fleeting and fake?!
Just before leaving Japan, take in this lovely bag, it has that sweet origami touch to it, and part of its' charm is the fabric that is used....it's very Japanese...
go into this site, scroll down and click on 'New link here'
http://antmee.blogspot.co.nz/2011/01/japanese-dilly-bag.html
Another interesting image that came up when I went looking for origami clothing was this one...
Just before leaving Japan, take in this lovely bag, it has that sweet origami touch to it, and part of its' charm is the fabric that is used....it's very Japanese...
go into this site, scroll down and click on 'New link here'
http://antmee.blogspot.co.nz/2011/01/japanese-dilly-bag.html
Another interesting image that came up when I went looking for origami clothing was this one...
Isn't it just the coolest concept.
I had a similar idea with my tiki t...maybe not the best photo to really see it..
When I was researching Issey Miyake, I came across this page.
Yes, Issey Miyake, showing how to create origami cranes....but it isn't easy, working it out through his instructions.....so, onto YouTube and found this site, which is much easier to follow...
and it helped me to create these fabric cranes, which I folded with the help of a steam iron, using some lovely Japanese fabric I had been given.
For some origami folding on a much grander scale than mine, go onto this link to see a huge elephant created out of a piece of heavy duty paper.
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| (Credit: www.youtube.com) |
It is great, and do take in the video. I love the mama elephant and baby....who wouldn't!
A cool use of origami shapes in this fashion shot.
Want to have a go at creating an Origami Wrap Sweater? I came across this website, and the creator has provided a pattern you can download for the sweater. Nice and simple to make, nice and simple to wear.
Or, have a go at this rather cool Origami Belt. The instructions are in French, and it is no problem finding a translation on line,just might take a bit of time and effort. I have left the instructions original size so it is clearer to read.
Origami is such creative fun....no end to what can be folded into a cool shape...get into it, in some shape or form, and enjoy!
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