Spring 2018 Haute Couture: Japanese woodblock influences at Yumi Katsura

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Top right: Fine Wind, Clear Morning, c.1830-1832; Bottom left: The Great Wave off Kanagawa, circa 1829-1833, both by Hokusai

Japanese couture doyenne Yumi Katsura’s Spring/Summer 2018 couture collection paid tribute to the works of Katsushika Hokusai, a famous ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period most well known for his print titled The Great Wave off Kanagawa (included by Katsura in the collection on one outfit).

Hokusai’s works greatly inspired Impressionist artists like Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet, and Katsura’s work similarly seeks to bridge East and West with this latest collection, “Bonds,” reflects this ongoing desire with the use of prints strongly recalling the artworks of Hokusai and Monet. 

@Couturenotebook; Carp Leaping up a Cascade by Hokusai (middle photo)

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While the collection included a few stunning silk kimonos, most of the designs were more western in their silhouettes, with a lot of loose, off-one-shoulder designs.

Once again nature is omnipresent in her creations, which celebrate the traditional silk dyeing technique called Yuzen, a Japanese “savoir-faire” Katsura is very keen to see preserved.

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