Fashion guest : Michiko Ikenishi The - Fabrics - Première Vision Paris
Michiko Ikenishi, an artistic director for the Japanese textile industry, is a trend and color expert with a long career at Itochu Fashion System Co., Ltd. She represents Japan at Première Vision’s international trend forecasting meetings.
Thanks to her expertise in Japanese textiles, Ikenishi brings an innovative outlook to fashion-related industries. As materials coordinator for various events including the TOKYO FIBER – SENSEWARE exhibit, held in 2007 and 2009 in Paris, Milan and Tokyo, she shares her knowledge of fibers and the incredible diversity and versatility of their uses.
Here, she gives us her vision of Autumn-Winter 22-23:
Positive and optimistic
In reaction to the prolonged periods of isolation and confinement, there is a real need for cheerfulness and color: the white mask is being replaced by colorful masks that combine the fundamental need for protection with a clear desire for fantasy. Masks have now become a true fashion accessory.
This season, I am proposing bright colors that are particularly cheerful for a fall-winter season. The liveliness of these shades will harmonize well with subtle skin tones.
In fabrics, there’s a lot of roundness, volume but no weight, an airy lightness paired with a natural and refined tactility. The work of the young Japanese ceramist Tomoya Sakai, whom I discovered at the “Virtual generation Potter” exhibition, perfectly echoes this direction.
Comfort and protection
The textile industry specializing in high-performance materials for extreme sports, professional athletics and pure functionality is furthering its research into “well-performance” fabrics that are regulating and climatic. Beyond developments focused purely on comfort, we see the emergence of effective protection: “anti-virus”, “deodorant”, “anti-pollen” performance features and comfort functions such as “Cool-sensing,” and “no stuffy” – caring combinations of protection and well-being, which are also eco-friendly in their washable textile versions.
Masks thus become not only protective and comfortable, but also appealing, in fabrics decorated with a fresh burst of creativity and talent.
Beautiful and sustainable
There’s a continued acceleration in the recycling of artificial fibers, alongside that of synthetic fibers. Today the properties of these recycled fibers are fully comparable to those of natural fibers, or artificial fibers of natural origin, with a whole range of attractive eco-friendly dyes, and non-harmful treatments and finishes.
Thanks to recent technological advances, ecological fabrics now boast technical enhancements without losing any of their aesthetic appeal in terms of color and decoration.
The interaction and synergy between high technology and high fashion-appeal, the bridges and hybrids created between supposed opposites, help us to re-imagine fashions that align with the wishes of modern, discerning consumers, without compromising on performance, eco-responsibility and style.
This “dual value” foresees the emergence of a coming ‘NEW NORMALITY’.”
Discover the preview of the Autumn Winter 22-23 season as seen through the eye of Desolina Suter, Sabine le Chatelier and Olivia Merquior.