NAOKO TOSA: Sound of Ikebana
Hailing from Kyoto, Japan – /NAOKO TOSA’s “Sound of Ikebana” (生け花の音) Fall/Winter 2024 has taken the city by storm as the brand presented its exhilarating new collection at New York Fashion Week. According to the brand’s official press release, Tosa’s Sound of Ikebana Fall & Winter collection obtained inspiration from the shape of the heartbeat sound, Japanese Kimonos, and New York Manhattan downtown fashion!” Womenswear consists of a broad range of black cloaks including a one-piece dress and one-piece jacket. Menswear includes a turtle neck, wide pants, and a hooded coat. All of the fashion is easy to fit a plethora of bodies. Naoko Tosa is a new media artist and fashion designer whose activities are based in Kyoto and NY. Last year, she debuted as a fashion designer with Global Fashion Collective. Her original design was created by using sound vibration, which means that fashion has come to represent the visualization of living power. She has merged art, science, and nature to create unique prints to be displayed sporadically on her clothes. It is one masterpiece of melodic beauty. There is a synchronous movement from one frame to the next, connecting to each piece seamlessly as the show is finished.
There’s a ton of fluidity in the pieces. Explain how you identify with sound.
Sound is our vibration. My specialty is art and science. I love science. Sound is the breath, which is why many things happen with tornados or natural phenomena. I love natural phenomena. Vibration is also a form of care for the people. So many vibrations directly affect our body, such as a singing bowl. It can affect our voice or sound. I understand hearing. Sound is not only felt in the ears but in the skin and many other parts of the body. Most of the first aspects of sound felt within our lives are with the baby’s first voice. That’s why I chose a baby’s first voice as inspiration. This is a collaboration with many things, primarily with an infant’s voice.
So you originated those sound structures and the paintings from the baby’s voice.
Yes, you can see within the prints chosen. That is why it is our first look. Our first person has put on the turtle neck with the prints abstracted from a baby’s voice.
Have you always been into digital printing? How did you grow from a child into doing what you are now? Were you always into fashion, or were you more into science and art?
Moreso, it was science and art. I initially had no interest in fashion. But after I engaged with art and science, I studied fashion and then shifted to art innovation. I belonged to Kyoto University as a professor, and after this point of view, I collaborated with industry leaders such as EPSON. EPSON is known for its digital printing. Unfortunately, EPSON’s stated that the monetary value of digital printing is low. They wanted to increase the value, similar to visual art. Textile printing has more value than digital printing, so we agreed to do it. Using digital printing, I transported the work to Instagram. Then, the GLOBAL Fashion Collective scouted me via Instagram.
How did you meet Mariko Dozono? Her jewelry goes so well with your clothes because the jewelry is very sculptural, architectural, and artistic, like a splash (similar to your splashes on the clothes). How did that collaboration come about?
Mariko and I had a person who connected us. Unfortunately, she passed away last month. The good thing about Mariko is how quickly she connected with us via Facebook after following me. After chatting, we talked about my pieces, and then Mariko wanted to meet. After that, everything flowed naturally. (Mariko’s Jewelry Showcased from the Show Below)
How would you explain Zen, as it’s such a part of Japanese culture and heavily involved within your collection?
Because I am interested in Zen, and before I started in fashion, I was inspired by the sounds of ink painting. Now I belong to Kyoto University. Before I attended Kyoto University, I worked at MIT in Boston. I was an artist fellow at MIT. At that time, I made Zen Artificial Intelligence 20 years ago. We are now working on a new project in the next three months.
After careful analysis, Naoko Tosa can be categorized as a conceptual designer in the purest sense of the word. Yet, the concept is not so far out of the orbit of contemporary clothing that it is impossible to wear on a day-to-day basis. Whenever clothes are created and merged with an underlying artistic concept, the outcome can turn out to be risky. However in this case: Tosa has used her storied education within technology and science, inspiration from her favorite designer Alexander McQueen, merged with a unique style to create pieces that merge a healthy sense of color, vitality, and streamlined silhouettes. One is intrigued to see how the brand will continue to evolve as it continues to show in America, translating traditional Japanese ideals of Zen with modern advancements in technology with printing.