Fashion house Mame Kurogouchi unveiled its Spring Summer 2024 campaign featuring models Sena Nakajima and Raiki Yamamoto lensed by fashion photographer Yuichiro Noda. In charge of hair styling and makeup was beauty artist Yoko Hirakawa.
The Mame Kurogouchi Spring Summer 2024 Collection embarks on a journey to Arita town in Saga Prefecture, a place steeped in the history of Early Imari pottery, a pivotal moment in the dawn of Japanese porcelain in the 17th century. Designer Maiko Kurogouchi brings the tales of past and present-day potters into her collection, translating fragments of memory and the ethereal beauty of white porcelain into her designs.
Kurogouchi’s fascination with Japanese porcelain’s rich craftsmanship, a blend of continental techniques and unique Japanese adaptations, is the heart of this collection. Influences from contemporary artists like Ryohei Yamamoto, Yuki Hirakura, and Mayumi Hamano, who reimagine Early Imari works, guide her exploration of this historical art form. The collection explores the Japanisation of these crafts, the trials and innovations behind them, and their perspectives on everyday life.
Inspired by the pursuit of the ideal ‘white’ in Early Imari porcelain, the collection showcases various tones and textures of white, ecru, and mint green fabrics, symbolizing a fresh emotional palette. The translucent glaze of Early Imari, merging with its base, finds a parallel in the collection’s lustrous glow of sheer lamé jersey series, giving an illusion of glaze flowing over the skin. Unevenly dyed jacquard, asymmetrical hand-tie dyed dresses, and hazy landscapes behind the glaze are also key elements in the designs.
