|
 |
Fashion Designer
Date of Birth:
1970
Birthplace:
Kumamoto, Japan |
|
Photo © 2001 Kjeld Duits |
Ohya is described by Issey Miyake as ''genius, pure genius.''
Miyake employed Ohya straight out of Bunka Fashion College, the
leading fashion school of Japan. After several years of grooming,
Miyake eventually gave him one of his brands to design for: Haat.
Miyake encourages his designers to strike out on their own while
continuing to design for him. Ohya grabbed this chance with both
hands, and in 1996 started his own studio, Ohya Design Zoo
Co. Ltd.
Hiroaki Ohya is very much a child of his time. He designs
for himself, not for his customers. He is not interested in the
people who wear his clothes. He is not even interested if anyone
wears his clothes. In many cases, they are not. One of Ohya's
most famous designs is Wizard of Jeanz (1999). The name
is based on Lyman Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, made
famous by the movie with Judy Garland.
The Wizard of Jeanz consists of 21 books which fold
out into clothing. A book you can wear. With the cover as fluttering
wings on your buns. Ohya only made 20 publications of the series,
each one costing a cool US$6,000. They were snapped up in no
time by collectors and museums.
Ohya got his inspiration for the series when he was at a flea
market in New York one day. He discovered a 50-year-old biography
about President Lincoln. For someone from a world where creations
die a silent death after just 3 months the discovery was a revelation.
"With a book you can see something from 50 years ago the
way it was 50 years ago." It started a train of thought.
"My own fashion creations disappeared within half a year.
Especially in Japan everything is: 'make, throw out, make, throw
out.' I had the feeling I was creating garbage."
That feeling Ohya expresses in his creations. The jeans in
the books of Wizard of Jeanz is made of polyester. It
is fake. Fake too, are the buttons, pockets, stitches and most
other details of the piece of clothing. It has all been printed
onto the fabric. Clearly fake at first sight. It is Ohya's commentary
on the fake world that fashion creates each and every season.
This fake world was perfected in Ohya's Cup Mode, based
on Japan's famous Cup Noodles. You find them everywhere
in Japan: a complete meal that is created in just 3 minutes by
adding hot water. Fake at its very best.
Maybe because of this lack of respect for tradition, Ohya's
clothes are fun and deeply dramatic. Like the Wizard of Jeanz,
Cup Mode and one of his earlier creations: a set of shirts,
each designed as a letter of the alphabet. "There are T-shirts,
right? Why not A, B and C-shirts?"
 1992 - Graduates from Bunka
Fashion College, Japan
1992 - Accessory designer at Issey Miyake
Design Studio
1996 - Launches own label: Ohya Design Zoo
Co Ltd
1999 - Wizard of Jeanz
2000 - Ohya Cup Mode 2000
2000 - Head designer for Haat Issey Miyake
OH!YA? is Hiroaki Ohya's website
for previous collections
Official web site of Issey Miyake
iKjeld's photo essay Japanese fashion designers
| Information for Web Masters
and Image Researchers |
This image is from a large selection of photographs of Japan
and the Japanese. They are available for licensing.
|
go back 
Ohya,
Hiroaki
Suggest an entry!
