The Fashion Designer - Yamamoto

According to Kansai Yamamoto, ‘In Japan the word basara ばさら means to dress freely, with a stylish extravagance. Basara is the opposite of the Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetic, which is underplayed and modest; it is colourful and flamboyant and it lies at the heart of my design.’

“In Japan, I first discovered it in traditional, woodblock prints – but later I also found it in the U.K.! When I was around 25 years old, I, of course, wore the clothes that I myself designed. Unfortunately, in Japan at that time, my style was met with cold derision and so I went to London. There, people’s reaction was totally different – they were warm, interested and enthusiastic and I felt completely at home there. I realized Japan and Britain have a totally different aesthetic and the latter values a freedom of style, colour and self-expression which is just like Japan’s ‘BASARA’.”

basara wood cuts

In February 1973, the Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto received a phone call from bowie’s stylist Yacco Takahshi, who insisted that he leave Tokyo immediately to catch a plane for New York. A 13 hour plane ride later, he saw bowie descend from the ceiling on a disco ball at the radio city music hall. “I felt like I’d known him forever,” he remembers. 2 years earlier, bowie had picked up some of kansai’s brash colored women’s wear he exhibited in London. 6 years prior to his debut in London, Yamamoto had left his civil engineering studies behind… “I did not have the money for fashion University, so I taught myself how to make clothing. I spent all night drawing, and all day cutting and sewing. I kept submitting designs until I won an award. After winning, I began to dress flamboyantly.” Kansai’s basara fashion work which exuded extravagance, eccentricity, and excess complemented Bowie’s stage personality. Kansai was amazed by the sight of bowie wearing his designs. The following day after the concert, Kansai began designing costumes for David.

His favorite piece of clothing he designed for bowie was the Tokyo bodysuit. “As for inspiration, it was based on a traditional Japanese workman’s costume. I had a friend from Jamaica, Antonio Lopez, who was fascinated by many aspects of Japan which I considered commonplace. But once I saw his drawings, which included workmen in their uniforms, it made me look at these working clothes in a very new way – and this led to the creation of the bodysuit.”

Japanese construction worker workpants

In his recollections bowie, kansai said in an interview, “When I designed Bowie’s clothes, I approached it as if I was designing for a female,” Yamamoto said. “There’s no zipper in the front….David was a true vanguard — he was making waves in the musical landscape of the time. His energy resonated with my own desire to venture out into the world. I think David felt that the energy in my designs contributed to his own energy. He knew that when he wore my clothing onstage, he could elicit a strong reaction from the audience.”

“My understanding of Western style comes from David Bowie,” Yamamoto explained, “and he learned the Eastern style through me.” In the early 70s, Yamamoto frequently accompanied Bowie thorugh Kyoto, the traditional Japanese temple city that was Bowie’s favorite. Yamamoto introduced Bowie to the kabuki aesthetic that Bowie used to clothe his Ziggy and Aladdin Sane alter egos. On introducing Bowie to hikinuki, the quick costume change method in Japanese kabuki theatre Kansai recounts, “In the West during the ’70s, there were graphic T-shirts printed with English letters, but none with Japanese characters. So for David, I spelled out his name phonetically in kanji characters on the white cape I designed for him. On stage, he quickly removed the cape, revealing a different outfit underneath. When David did this quick costume change onstage, the reaction from the venue was incredible.”

On Bowie’s interest in women’s clothing: “Today, lesbian and gay people today are gaining more rights and acceptance, but when I was working with David, that community did not have the same rights. So I found David’s aesthetic and interest in transcending gender boundaries shockingly beautiful.”

In speaking about his long time friend and collaborator, bowie at the Brooklyn museum exhibit, yamamoto said, “I’m the top in my own company and I don’t own a car. But I own a 35-meter air balloon — two of them… To have Bowie sit atop those air balloons, and have him sing his songs, was my dream.”