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THE DARK SIDE OF FASHION:
SHO KONISHI OPENS PANDORA ’S BOX OF THE INDUSTRY IN HIS CREATIONS

FASHION

THE DARK SIDE OF FASHION:
SHO KONISHI OPENS PANDORA ’S BOX OF THE INDUSTRY IN HIS CREATIONS
 

Photo credit:  Sho Konishi

Text: Tatiana Stolyatova

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PHOTO CREDIT:  Sho Konishi


TEXT: TATIANA STOLYAROVA

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The creator moves in mysterious ways. Some designers, like Reagen Evans, the protagonist of our recent interview whose style is inspired by the golden age of French couture create classic feminine silhouettes and a desire to make their muse admirable.

Other draw inspiration from unconventional sources.

For Sho Konishi, creative process is inseparable from pain (shall we compare this process to a kind of delivery laborer?). This Japan-born, New-York-based fashion designer, stylist and visual artist is not afraid to show the backside of the industry, less glamourous and sometimes quite ugly. But, to the opinion of Sho, still needed to be seen to make clients aware of its toxicity and the ways of sustainable consumption.

As his point of view seems to be interesting and curious, yet not unfamiliar to our platform values, we talked to Sho and are happy to share his unique and to some degree disruptive vision here with you.

To make long story short. From a countryside where you were born in Japan to a fashion designer owing the eponymous brand in New York: how did you make it?

How did I make it happen? I just decided to make this happen I guess.
I was born in Kochi, moved to Tokyo to study Fashion Design, as I wanted to learn fashion in the center part of Japan. Then I moved to Paris, which I fell in love with as it’s so festive especially during fashion weeks. There I’ve got a Master of Arts in Fashion Design at Paris College of Art. However, I wanted to be in the center of the world and make many friends, so I moved to New York, where I received a scholarship from UNIQLO for another MFA at Parsons (School of Design) – the opportunity I could not miss. NY suits me best, so I have decided to be based here!

How would you describe your personal style?

Spending time with friends and at home in the pursuit of creative knowledge of art and nature of human existence in relation to my design endeavors. I see fashion and art as a part of my personal life indissoluble of my professional life. My ideology of fashion is that fashion design is a tangible representation of human existence. I use cloths as a way to design life.

Fabrics are essential for your work: “design and fabrics relations are as linked as a fish with water”. What kind of fabrics do you use? Do you choose fabrics first and then comes the design?

I choose fabric first and start by touching and testing it to develop my design next. I use everything I have on hand: feathers, metals, plastic bottles, etc. I see entire world as materials to make my art. Plastic is my favorite stuff, I believe that it has been unfairly demonized, which is so contradictory since we cannot go without this fantastic material: think about your smart phone, which is basically made of plastic! We should change our mind set towards certain fabrics instead of accusing them of their toxicity.

“Nothing is possible to create without pain in fashion industry.. you need to embrace pain”, - can you explain this point of view?

Fashion industry is toxic in both literal (pollution, use of animal skins) and figurative (using cheap labor force for example) senses, and it embraces pains in general. Thus, as a fashion designer, I cannot ignore it. I try to understand and embrace it. For me, materials are someone’s death. It’s painful but that’s why they are so precious at the same time.

Do you believe in reincarnation and karma? Do you think that our path as humans is predetermined and we just follow what was meant to be?

I do believe in such things as reincarnation, but not for all human beings. If you believe then you will be part of it. Reincarnation is one of the themes I concentrate on while I design. It comes naturally from the fact that I largely use ‘reborn’ materials in my work.

For whom do you create your cloths/ style? Who are your muses if you have ones?

My inspiration comes from persons such as: Salvia, Brooks Ginnan , duo Fecal Matter and more! What do they have in common? Probably, they are all different from what most of people, even in fashion industry, consider as stereotype. They are beautiful in their own, unique way, they stay honest to themselves and they are not afraid to show their beauty.

Can you name designers, living or dead, who inspire you in your creation?

Absolutely. I can name Alexander Macqueen, Iris Van Herpen, Hussein Chalayan, Thierry Mugler.

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