The Japanese aesthetic and a Radiohead tee
As I prepare to shutter the Passage at month's end for the summer break, I'm sharing an illuminating Insta post by Australian designer Ken Sakata of Front Office, in which he explains the Japanese fashion aesthetic. (About three minutes.) He succinctly describes four centuries-old principles identified by the scholar Donald Keene: Suggestion, Irregularity, Simplicity, and Perishability . These, he says, are very different from the Western fashion aesthetic. As Sakata explained the principles, I understood why I enjoy secondhand clothes, seek details like functional pockets, and am wary of noisy "wearable art" items. Last month, I found a barn-door red tee in a thrift that embodied the principles. Fine, soft cotton, simple but feminine cut, and rolled hems. Six bucks, and it met the Giki Zero goals I set a year ago. Usually. the modern Japanese aesthetic carries a hefty price. An oversized cotton shirt from SS Stein displays all the principles. Part of t...
