Beautiful People designer Hidenori Kumakiri likes to explore the liminal space between two ideas, using his transformable clothing to bridge the gap. So turning his attention to the root cause of humanity’s problems, which he determined is a lack of connection for a species made for socializing, he began with the wardrobes embodying the sides he wants to reconcile: military garb and light clothes, both similar in tone and textile weight, as a metaphor for his belief that humans should make connections, not war.
Out came a quartet of models who proceeded to dance, unzip, and generally rejigger each other’s initial outfits into a dozen more variations. Utility jackets morphed into skirts, trousers into floor sweeping coat dresses, coats into boleros and so on.
The penultimate look — a cropped jacket and a parachute that was unfurled before the model made it billow and inflate by running around the room. When it landed, it turned into a billowing gown, eliciting delight in the audience.
Backstage, this profusion turned out to be a dozen or so pieces in khaki twill, a profusion of zips and cunningly constructed elements hidden on the reverse of each garment. But unlike magicians’ tricks, seeing the construction increased the appreciation for Kumakiri’s tricks rather than spoil their effect.
