{"id":1181,"date":"2011-06-29T10:41:16","date_gmt":"2011-06-29T08:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/?p=1181"},"modified":"2012-05-31T21:58:42","modified_gmt":"2012-05-31T19:58:42","slug":"takashi-nishiyama-talks-to-filep-motwary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/1181\/takashi-nishiyama-talks-to-filep-motwary\/","title":{"rendered":"Takashi Nishiyama talks to Filep Motwary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photography by Genevieve Majari<\/h5>\n

Takashi Nishiyama, a 23-year-old designer inspired by computer games and monsters, is the winner of this year\u2019s ITS competition: a seal of approval bestowed by judges including Viktor & Rolf and John Galliano. Nishiyma\u2019s collection features voluminous layers of dark fur, drowning the models in monster silhouettes; it is simultaneously fantasy and nightmare.<\/p>\n

[br]<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

How does it feel to win ITS?<\/p>\n

Nishiyama:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a very nice experience indeed. It\u2019s a good way to be accepted alongside graduates from the finest schools, such as the Royal College of Art and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. I\u2019m honoured.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What happens now?<\/p>\n

Nishiyama:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think that somehow my award could give hope to students and young designers in Japan, because I am the first nominee from a Japanese school and the first Japanese kid to win. I want to keep contributing to the Japanese fashion industry, help bring out a real creative platform for young people.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What has changed for you?<\/p>\n

Nishiyama:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being broadcast in the foreign media is a special experience. Plus the prize money will help me produce my collection and make the idea a reality!<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What inspired this collection?<\/p>\n

Nishiyama:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I suppose my background helped me to create an original collection. I have studied at two fashion schools in Japan. First, at Bunka Fukushoku Gakuin, I learned pattern and sewing, and then at Coconogacco, I learned how to design. Recent competitions around the world have shown a tendency to award wearable collections. I tried to add a taste of experimentation to the real clothes, in garments that are wearable. I liked that Viktor & Rolf were judges and that they loved it! The theme of my collection was \u201cMonster Hunter\u201d, becauseI wanted to reflect contemporary Japanese pop culture at an international competition. Monster Hunter<\/em> is a Japanese TV game in which the players hunt monsters to collect new weapons. I was in-spired by this game a lot, and by Japanese commuters, who enjoy playing games on the train.So the story of my collection is about salary-men fighting with monsters, and wearing the details of these monsters on their own uniform. On my clothes, one can easily see monster parts alongside formalwear. I have tried to describe the backside of Japanese culture.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It makes sense. So are you dreaming of a future in Europe or will you stay in Tokyo for now? How does Tokyo support you as a young designer?<\/p>\n

Nishiyama:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, ITS and Hyeres are not well known in Japan, so it was less well covered by Japanese than foreign media. I don\u2019t have founders or sponsors, though I\u2019m thankful to have much advice and co-operation from older designers like Yoshikazu Yamagata. I might need to find backers to work on the international stage soon.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the mythology behind your inspiration?<\/p>\n

Nishiyama:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love this Japanese monster movie you may know, called Godzilla \u2013 I\u2019ve seen the movie many times! As a kid I enjoyed collecting monster dolls and playing computer games with monsters. I have just loved monsters since childhood.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What was your childhood like?<\/p>\n

Nishiyama:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I loved mixing colors paints with my hands. I also loved drawing and paper-cutting, which often would culminate in the creation of original monsters.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where do you see yourself in five years?<\/p>\n

Nishiyama:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I cannot be sure about five years from now. I want to try to show my collections to the world in order to introduce Japanese culture. I dream of making more impressive shows. The outline is for sure as important as the way of showing it out. I believea fashion designer must be an entertainer and a dream-maker.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who do you look up to in the business?<\/p>\n

Nishiyama:<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I first saw the shows of John Galliano in a video, I got so impressed and I started dreaming. His collections themselves are a performance. They give the opportunity to others to dream, and I am one of those others. I admire someone like him, who is successful as fashion designer and entertainer alike.<\/p>\n

\u00a0[br]<\/p>\n

Interview originally published in Dapper Dan, Issue 03, March 2011. Styling by Nicholas Georgiou. Modeled by Paraskevas Boubourakas at X-Ray.\u00a0Thanks to David Flam\u00e9e and Makoto Fukuda.<\/p>\n

[br]<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photography by Genevieve Majari Takashi Nishiyama, a 23-year-old designer inspired by computer games and monsters, is the winner of this year\u2019s ITS competition: a seal of approval bestowed by judges including Viktor & Rolf and John Galliano. Nishiyma\u2019s collection features voluminous layers of dark fur, drowning the models in monster silhouettes; it is simultaneously fantasy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[33,38],"class_list":["post-1181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issue-03","tag-fashion","tag-interviews"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8QZgE-j3","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1181"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1812,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181\/revisions\/1812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}