“Good morning, I want I may fly, nevermind.”
That was the title of Shinya Kozuka’s fall assortment; it’s a title that captures the endearingly melancholic temper of the model, which feels stronger each season.
Tonight’s present came about in a big underground corridor close to the bus station in Shinjuku, and afterwards Kozuka got here out cradling a sculpture of a Humboldt penguin. He was carrying penguin themed socks and a T-shirt with a drawing of a penguin on it and the caption “I want I may fly” scribbled beneath. He purchased the T-shirt for $20 on the resale website Mercari final spring and it set him on a inventive journey that knowledgeable the gathering. “By some means I began projecting myself onto the concept of a penguin. And penguins can’t fly, you already know?” he mentioned. A group devoted to the flightless chicken was born.
The fashions slowly paced via the corridor to Quruli’s tune “Good Morning.” Kozuka’s penguins appeared as summary shapes on fuzzy intarsia sweaters, or extra clearly in tonal shades of blue on coats and fits or embellished with beads on navy quilted jackets. Yves Klein Blue has been a recurring touchpoint for Kozuka, and this time he submitted to it totally, narrowing all the things right down to a midwinter daybreak palette of blue, black, white, and grey. The restraint allowed more room to understand the sensitivity of his garments, which prior to now haven’t all the time matched the sensitivity of his thoughts. The textures of the blue corduroy and velvet subsequent to flashes of arctic-white fur added depth, whereas the knits, balloon pants, and caps scrawled with Kozuka’s musings (“I’m so stuffed,” “the crescent moon,” and “the bus terminal within the early morning”) introduced the poeticism.
The blue feathers that embellished the hair and faces of the fashions lent the present a vaguely ecclesiastical air; the standard penguin imagined as an archangel. It was Kozuka’s tackle an unsightly duckling story, besides the message wasn’t of a latent transformation right into a regal swan, and as a substitute advised of being sufficient simply as you’re. Even when we will’t fly, there’s magnificence in simply plodding alongside.
