Profile Meet Junya Watanabe

The fashion icon

By Srishti Seam and Gzifa

Junya Watanabe, a Japanese Fashion Designer born in 1961 in Fukushima, is known for his advanced approach to design and avant-garde aesthetic He is also known for being the protege of the Comme des Garcons (CDG) brand founder Rei Kawakubo. Before joining the company Comme des Garcons in 1984 as a pattern maker, he studied at Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo He quickly climbed the ranks and caught the attention of designer Rei Kawakubo, who took him under her guidance.

Junya Watanabe is pronounced ‘joon'ya wa'ta'na'bey’. Junya is a word that roughly translates to ‘pure’ or ‘purity’ Watanabe is the fifth most common surname and translates to ‘ferryside’.

Where did Junya Watanabe get his inspiration from?

Though Junya Watanabe is interested in using synthetic and technologically advanced textiles found in his spring/summer 2001 line, he used cotton (a traditional material) in his spring/summer 2003 collection

His own line was formed in 1992, under the umbrella of CDG. His debut show was held at the concourse of Tokyo’s Ryogoku Station in the same year. In 1993, he presented his first women’s wear show in Paris By 1987, Watanabe had achieved further fame and was appointed the chief designer of CDG’s Tricot knitwear line Currently, he continues to work for Comme des Garcons. His atelier is located on the second floor of its Tokyo headquarters, and he produces four shows a year in Paris In an interview, when asked about what influenced him to become a designer, Watanabe says, “There’s nothing in particular that made me want to start fashion and create clothes. But if I were to mention something, it would be the fact that my mother used to have a little made-to-order shop. That may have been an influence ”

1993:firstwomen’swearshow

He is known to be shy, hardly attending any interviews Whenever he did, he would always use the term “Monozukuri”, meaning ‘making things; production; craftsmanship’. Watanabe has created garments that have shifted the way people think about clothing in its everyday form, not just fashion. His work centres around experimentation, endlessly reworking garments into fresh constructions. In an industry where referencing of other cultures, of other historical styles runs rife, Watanabe’s pieces have the rare, almost unique attribute of appearing like pieces we have never seen before. It is all the more striking because Watanabe works with what he calls “dumb” clothes; trench coats, biker jackets, and the white shirt. The ordinary becomes extraordinary.

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Some of his notable displays include a 1999 Watanabe show where fabrics were reversed to become waterproof, as demonstrated by an isolated rain shower midrunway

A 2001 show elevated denim to couture level and prompted a barrage of highfashion homages.

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A 2006 collection’s endless reiterations of the trench coat gave new dimensions to a garment considered staid and classic. A memorable sequence of women’s wear collections, from a half-decade ago, explored elements of nearly any basic wardrobe: army fatigues; puffer coats; and sailor stripes. They were remarkable for gleaning such richness and breadth from simple staples.

Works Cited

Today, his fashion has become a flash point for other designers. It is difficult to imagine a designer sitting down to create one of such garments without drawing inspiration from what Watanabe did first. JunyaWatanabeMANpink(2003) https://www farfetch com/styleguide/brands/who-is-junya-watanabe/ https://www grailed com/drycleanonly/juny a-watanabe-master-class https://sabukaru.online/articles/anintroduction-to-junya-watanabe-thedesigner

BY JODY TONG