Finally, some emotion.
New to Tokyo Fashion Week, Yusho Kobayashi occupies a particularly niche part of the city’s fashion ecosystem. The concept of kawaii (cuteness) has deep roots in Japanese aesthetic culture that peaked during the Harajuku fashion boom of the ’80s and ’90s, but Kobayashi explores a darker side of this cuteness, sometimes known as ‘yami-kawaii’ or ‘sick-cute’—the curious space between sweetness and pain.
A Central Saint Martins graduate, the 33-year-old doesn’t use factories, instead making all of his pieces by hand with a small team. “I always start with a story,” he said backstage. “I try to take existing kawaii Japanese fashion and add another layer to it.” This time the story he’d chosen was the Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice. (A quick Classics refresher: Orpheus descends into the underworld to bring Eurydice back to life, but loses her forever upon looking back.) “Death constantly haunts me,” wrote Kobayashi in his show notes. “I still don’t look back.”
Serving as the runway was a dais in the center of Shibuya’s Hikarie hall, decorated with paper flowers and trees made from cardboard tubes, with an altar in the center. Japanese artist Yoyou leaned against one of the trees in this makeshift forest, providing the soundtrack with a live performance of her sad and sugary music, as Kobayashi’s troupe of glassy-eyed girls traipsed the runway wearing delicate complications of pastel knits, bed-quilt blanket coats, and folky patchwork dresses. Huge skirts hand-painted with flowers had the appearance of crumpled paper but were actually cotton and satin layered over aluminium foil.
“I wanted to express separation and death, but in fashion those things are usually represented by black or white,” he said. “I wanted something darker yet colorful, like a dream where you encounter someone you love who has passed away, someone you can no longer see. It’s like a hazy image in your memory.” He titled it ‘Void.’
It was a masterclass in world-building on a budget, and a rare insight into a side of Japanese fashion culture that has historically been more prevalent on the street than it has on the runway. With any luck, there’ll be more of it to come. “I want to see you again,” hand-knitted onto a patchwork checked dress, summed up the feeling.
