Kei Kagami- 10 years of images NVU to follow shortly

Dear Shaded Viewers,

I asked Kei to choose one image per year of his most memorable pieces from his shaded ten years.

Zip_dress
photo by Philip Gay
from 1999 s/s collection.
this dress is made of LUMINOUS ZIPS , so it glows in the shade .
in 1998 i signed with YKK for sponsorship with this idea and YKK used the series of clothes made of zips for their promotion .
This idea inspired many designers , as a result YKK has sponsored me ever since .
i thank the designers that made clothes in zips .

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From 2001s/s collection .
it is quite modest and not so strong but very memorable for me because it was the first pair of shoes i ever designed .
a respectable shoe maker and designer Paul Murry Watson made them for me. i always wanted to do shoes and finally …

Ykk1
From 2002 s/s collection ‘ escape ‘ .
there was a time i wanted to escape into somewhere surreal pure and beautiful ………
it is simply my favorite shoe but i decided not to produce it because of the weight ……. i originally wanted to make the heel in aluminum and titanium mixed to make it lighter but i had to compromise using mild metal because of a problem with the cost . only a dream was left there ……..
i remember i spent ages to make the model of the heel for casting . the heel was made by a German metal artist Axel Hinterseh . Eversince then he has made metal heels for me . a few years later this shoe was used for YKK poster as well .

02
photo by Enamul Hoque
from 2004 s/s collection ‘ industrial revolution , good old days ‘ .
an antithese against computer civilization , i wanted to give an hommage to the machine civilization by expressing the coexistence of humans with machines (or something mechanical ).
i love machines because i can physically see, understand and repair them if they go wrong . it means i can live with them but not with computers …………….
this piece has got a winding jack and you can control the hight of a bar .
the series of 4 showpieces were bought by TIGI for their promotion .

Kei_kagami_aw_2004_0cd307_2

photo by Enamul Hoque
from 04/05 a/w collection ‘ mental disorder ‘ .
the previous collection put me into depression for a while and ended up doing this ……
this showpiece is not the strongest from the collection but i like this now because it looked slightly healthier than others ( to be honest i could not choose the strongest because they all depress me ) .
the skirt can be open and closed like an umbrella controlling strings on the shoulders .
this image was used a cover of invitations for an exhibition ‘ Body extension ‘ in Swiss .
Vlarge_kei1
photo by andy tommo
from 05/06 a/w collection ‘ correction and its paradox ‘ .
this piece could be a device to make your figure straight .
when 2 main arms on front and back are close , the end of the arms hold your head and you have to stand straight .
this collection was presented as a catwalk show by Camera Moda in milano.
an italian paper described the collection as Torture Couture ……..
italians did not get it . it is not a torture device …… healthier than that .
however i don’t blame them ……….

35a

from 06 s/s collection ‘ ecology ‘ .
this is definitely the healthiest show piece i have ever done !!!
fresh watercress growing on the fabric , it has got a water tap on the skirt and a pumping device is hidden inside .
if you open the tup , water is sprayed from the middle of the wig and looks like a tree .
(being careful , you can see it on this photo , i love it . )
by this outfit i wanted to ask people the meaning of ecology and how it should be ……….. creature , nature and their environment .
i wanted to be healthy but i got depressed again when i saw an article and picture of this dress on Hello magazine( a gossip magazine which is worse than tabloid papers in england , it says ‘ a tribute to Kate MOSS ‘ ) .
Ij9k5102

from 06/07 a/w collection ‘ losing the meanings ‘.
no no no don’t say ‘ depressing again ‘ …….. a deep meaning is actually there .
a long story behind it ……… the explanation would take too long .
in this story there was a section which described life of a lady from a noble family and this outfit was for it .
it has a small trick . if you release a string , the 4 bells go down by their weights and pull the parts of skirt hem to make them reach to the end of bars . you can hear the sound of bells and can see the light of candles …….. romantic .
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photo by Enamul Hoque
from 07 s/s collection ‘ organic futurism ‘.
speaking of something futuristic , generally people still imagine something simple , plain , in silver , inorganic and post modern .
however rather than that , i can see futuristic images in something organic and biology .
for ex. i don’t think human being are physically able to create Robocop but we might be possible to create Blade runner like clone as a reality .
anyway this outfit has a funnel , glass tubes , clips , magnifying glasses to give something biological .
i named this outfit as ‘ anatomy ‘ , i am not sure it is a right naming .

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from 07/08 a/w ‘ hope , start again ‘ .
Wings of desire , Nike samothrace …….. call it as you like .
a story of a bird reviving ……… surprisingly it has got a happy ending , mentally it is positive and healthy .
pulling strings , you can close and open these wings . i remember the moment when we experimented and it worked , and i got very happy like a naive kid .
actually i always wanted to fly in the sky when i was a kid .
and i occasionally dream of myself flying at nights . it is my favorite dream even now .

Sideedit

photo Junkichi Tatsuki
from 08/09 a/w collection ‘ neo gothic ‘.
the collection was inspired by a ghost rider who took me to a beautiful cemetery in north london .
i was haunted by the experience and ended up doing this collection .
surprisingly there isn’t any hard stuff on this show piece but still dark you might think ………
we decided not to do cat walk show the season before …….. because we could not afford it anymore as we had to buy this studio .
it could be a one of the reasons why the show piece became visually weak to be honest ……
however this piece is very memorable for me in many ways .
this outfit was selected by Valerie Steel for an exhibition ‘ Gothic , dark glamour ‘ at FIT in New York .

All comments are from Kei Kagami, an interview will follow.

Later,

Diane

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Diane Pernet

A LEGENDARY FIGURE IN FASHION and a pioneer of blogging, Diane is a respected journalist, critic, curator and talent-hunter based in Paris. During her prolific career, she designed her own successful brand in New York, costume designer, photographer, and filmmaker.

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