Yuima Nakazato invents new digital-couture democracy

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Jan 26, 2018

Yuima Nakazato is one of these new designers, such as Iris van Herpen, who bring a new light to Haute Couture. This season, the Japanese designer - known for the avant-garde - did not disappoint with a collection inspired by space and astronaut uniforms. 

Covered from the head - with a transparent helmut - to the feet, with chunky white boots, to the hands with big gloves, models advanced in scuba suits in front of a strange looking machine. The outfits in white faux-leather came with a long red zip and were covered with dotted lines drawing straight and perpendicular lines.

The collection rolled out coats, jackets, tunics, pants and flared dresses made entirely from recycled industrial materials (parachute cloth, airbag laminated plastics, suede, and materials used for highway signage in Japan) - sourced from all over the world.

All the clothes were constructed from different fabrics (checks, rectangles and other horizontal stripes) too, assembled by tiny plastic staples that were put in place by Yuima Nakazato.

"These fasteners are masculine and feminine and can adapt to any fabric thickness. This makes it possible to replace traditional seams and therefore, modify a single part of the garment when needed, without having to undo everything and sew," said the 32-year-old designer, who wants to implement new technologies into sewing in the future.

As Nakazato explained: "Advanced technologies allow Haute Couture to be accessible to all."

The machine present on the runway during the fashion show is none other than the system created by the designer-inventor to make this miracle possible.

"It's a 3D scanner, which allows you to take a client's exact measurements. The data is then transferred to machine equipped with a laser cutter, which directly cuts the different parts of the fabric to assemble." 

"It's like a 'mobile factory', that you can move around easily from one place to another, in a showroom or a pop-up store, allowing clients to come on site for made-to-measure outfits," Nakazato told FashionNetwork.com, wearing a white lab coat the following day after his show. Nakazato is working from his showroom in Paris, where he remains for two days to sell his collection before returning to Tokyo.

"I want to give people the chance to were unique clothes in which they feel good, so each person can live out the couture experience," continued the designer, who studied at the Anvers Academy and went on to make clothing for theatre and cinema, before founding his own label in 2015.

Thanks to this digital technique, clothes can change over time, increasing upwards or outwards, and are easily adapted to all sizes.