Mame Kurogouchi RTW Spring 2021
Marking the 10th anniversary of her Mame Kurogouchi brand, Maiko Kurogouchi created an elegant, delicate collection for spring that took inspiration from windows she had photographed. What the designer sees while traveling generally informs her fashion, but due to the coronavirus lockdown, she took a cue from elements closer to home — such as archived photos, and drawings and pressed flowers she’d kept in her journal.
Looking at windows led to Kurogouchi thinking about curtains, such as the lace ones that hung at her grandmother’s house.
“The curtain always comes with very beautiful color of memory,” the designer said. “The curtain always holds some sort of nostalgia. The collection has lots of checkered motifs and grids, as well as softly volumed sleeves and oversize silhouettes.”
One graceful, white embroidered dress was spangled with motifs inspired by lilies drawn by Kurogouchi, while another was more streamlined, with bell sleeves and black piping.
She had in mind aging curtains for the color palette including pale yellow, white and black.
For her fashion video, she tapped friend and director Yoshiyuki Okuyama. Shot in Nagano prefecture, Kurogouchi’s birthplace, it’s a mysterious film made of a patchwork of scenes — a woman’s hand appears enigmatically in and against windows, or she’s seen looking through a window, behind curtains, lying on the ground, in a cityscape or the countryside.
Launch Gallery: Mame Kurogouchi RTW Spring 2021
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