Amid the good relations between India and Japan, Atsushi Nakashima – a Japanese designer was in Delhi to showcase his collection at the Lotus Make-Up India Fashion Week at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium recently.
Talking about his collection he said: "I showed the exact collection which I presented in Milan fashion week. There are no special pieces for India. I believe this is a global collection."
Atsushi was quite excited to be in India and explore its fashion trends. "This is the first time I have visited India, and it was a very interesting experience," he said. "I am very interested in studying the hand embroidery technique as an art and subject for my designs and I would definitely love to incorporate this beautiful technique in my works."
Coming from a corporate family in Japan, the designer reveals that he was very fascinated by his great-grandfather who was a painter. Looking upon him as an artist, Atsushi also started painting. But there was a time when certain circumstances in his family taught him that painting is good for passion but not probably the best thing to do for a living.
Describing how his interest shifted from only painting to designing clothes, he says, "So, when I was in high school, it was a very interesting scene in fashion in Japan. Until then, everything was more of a 'yanky' or 'retro' fashion in the country. Exactly when I was in high school, I witnessed the change in the fashion sense of the country – we started moving towards more of American casual style. Maybe, that was the time when I started finding fashion as a very interesting interpretation of art. That was the beginning for me."
Atsushi, who has his own brand and has showcased his fashion collection in various events at the international level, started his journey as an assistant designer of Jean Paul Gaultier – a famous designer in France. He believes that getting into Gaultier's studio was the turning point of his life.
Talking about fashion in the international arena, the designer, who worked in France for quite a long time, stated, "When you talk about fashion, everyone thinks about France as the leading nation in this industry, which is very true. But if you look at the percentage of people who are actually fashion-forward, you would find there is still a very acute percentage."
"In France, I think it is sort of a restrictive setup in terms of fashion because primarily the idea of fashion was for 'royalty', so there is a very small clutch of very leading designs so it was a very hard place to break into. France has a long history of great fashion, so if think any young or budding designer gets an opportunity to go and learn in France, it will be a very beneficial step towards their career because that place has a very long historical value when it comes to fashion," he adds.
Comparing Indian fashion essence with French, he states, "One thing I specifically liked about this country is that there is a lot of effort put in to preserve culture and tradition, and in that sense I found it to be like the French society. While moving towards the western silhouettes and modern wears, there is a corner of respect for the traditional wear."
The designer is pretty much impressed by the culture and traditional style of fashion India. He tells that he watched some fashion show clips and was startled to see various indo-western designs and use of embroidery on them.
Atsushi feels that in India, the silhouettes are becoming more modern. Talking about collaborating with Indian designers for fashion shows, he says, "This is my first time in India, I don't know much people here. But if given an opportunity, I would definitely love to with the designers present here."