WSJ Vanishing Asia062708.Pdf
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
0vtdt0vtdt ASIAN ARTS & CULTURE SPECIAL Q`tjhjtf -j` 10 Mhd pdf`b ve C`p`bb` 16 ;tcj` 0hjtdd cj`wv}` 19 8vtf jt .djkjtf -}aj}`fd w}jbd bhdbm 3 ¡ 5`hjvt 25 ¡ M`d 28 ¡ 8j Aj Jddt ve hd c}`wd Mhd `} ve fp` jt =`w`t 0vtdqwv}`} 4 ¡ Lwv} 26 ¡ Mjqd Gee `}j 5dtf Zhdtfkjd vw .}jtf j vtª av 0j}b jt .djkjtf Avtcvt `} qdq 6 ¡ 5vvc 1}jtm Kv`p .`ppd jt 8vtf ?vtf 1jtd l.d` hd Mhd 1jhI 8`tvj whv .d` qjb`p jt ?`p` H`w` 1vapd Aqw} lTjbmdc qjb`p 8 ¡ M}`dp jt Cdpav}td 0dppv bvtbd} 0j T`pmI 8vtf ?vtf jt Ldvp 5jpq edj`p jt 24 ¡ .vvm Lctd Kjd}c`tbd v} -j` O}a`t pdfdtc WSJ.com Cover: A 1930s photograph found torn and discarded in a Malacca Weekend Journal online building (Lim Huck Chin and See slideshows of Malacca’s heritage Fernando Jorge) S. Karene Witcher Editor and India’s Chinese diaspora, plus This page: Ng Ah Kee at the Sin view a video of our latest City Walk— Jessica Yu News graphics director See Tai barbershop in Malacca (Lim David Chan Hong Kong—at WSJ.com/Travel Art director Huck Chin and Fernando Jorge), Mary E. Kissel Taste page editor top; Shockers cheerleading team email [email protected] For more on Japan’s all-male (Steve West), left; ‘Pies de Plomo cheerleading squad Shockers, see (Zapateado Luz),’ by Rubén Ramos ? x {t WSJ.com/Sports Balsa (Rubén Ramos Balsa), right M83 T-AA LMK33M =GOKE-A -L;-+ 5`hjvt Dresses by Madame Grès show her signature draping, left, and kimono sleeves, right; New York vintage collector Juliana Cairone, Mhd pv fvccdd center, at her store How a rare collection of vintage gowns was found . 0h}jjt` .jtmpd eople often think of vintage Vintage, in New York City. seum of Art’s Costume Institute Ms. Cairone continues to dis- without putting on lotion or clothes as bargain-priced dis- The prices at Rare Vintage ball, and she mentioned her find. creetly reach out to other poten- scent. She then headed to Rare Hcoveries. So it may be hard range from a few hundred dollars Mr. Bolton expressed interest in tial buyers. But she is aware that Vintage and tried on a multihued to fathom the excitement of New to $10,000. One day earlier this two of the dresses, and the Met she may be condemning the teal and red dress. “There’s a York collector Juliana Cairone year, the shop’s long rack of cou- inspected them for a week. The dresses to decades in a museum part of me that feels clothing when eight dresses from a now-ob- ture gowns and dresses included museum declined to comment on archival box. The other day, she should have a warm body inside scure designer emerged recently a pale blue and gray Valentino any possible acquisition. dressed carefully in the morning, it,” she says. from a New Jersey basement. goddess dress and a Chanel dress But in the rarefied world of trimmed with ostrich feathers. fashion collecting, the name of the She has stumbled along the mysterious couturier Madame way—once she bought what she Grès has its own allure. Ms. Grès, thought was a Grès gown, but only who worked from the 1920s into the bodice was original. A “Dior” the 1980s, defined the modern Gre- she was sent turned out not to be— cian goddess gown. “She’s such a details such as the brand of zip- critical designer that anything by per, which was YKK rather than her is significant,” says Andrew the expected Éclair, were the tell- Bolton, assistant curator of the tale clues. Her reputation grew: Metropolitan Museum of Art’s She dressed Angelina Jolie in a Costume Institute in New York. flowing Hermès gown for Janu- The eight dresses include a teal ary’s Screen Actors Guild Awards. silk-jersey goddess gown, a multi- A month ago, Ms. Cairone re- hued ’70s caftan-like number and ceived an email from a vintage- a rust kimono-sleeved dress. clothing appraiser inviting her to Today, Ms. Grès is more col- see several suits and dresses by lected than worn. For serious fash- Christian Dior and Madame Grès. ion collectors, clothes are art, and Ms. Cairone high-tailed it out to a the perspiration and skin oils of small home outside New York City. bodies are dangers. While there It was the Grès dresses that are plenty of women who buy and drew her. Madame Grès, born Ger- wear vintage fashion, some of the maine Krebs, was once as well- rarest pieces go to private collec- known as her contemporary Coco tions and museums such as the Chanel, but Ms. Grès designed Louvre in Paris. These days, the only handmade haute couture market is lively, fed by London auc- that sold first as the label “Alix” tions and private deals, with prices and later as “Madame Grès.” rising at times to $20,000 or more Without a juggernaut corporate for 20th-century garments. investor and global ready-to- Filling such collections is as wear lines, Ms. Grès, who died in much about scavenging as shop- 1993, disappeared into obscurity. ping. Many of the best pieces are The Grès dresses, Ms. Cairone sitting in people’s closets or in for- was told, were purchased in Paris gotten storerooms. Often, they’re in the 1970s and 1980s by a mildewed, faded or altered— wealthy New Yorker and then their value diminished. The Met passed on to a family employee regularly scours eBay looking to about 10 years ago. The employee flesh out its fashion collections— passed the dresses to her daugh- and finds things, Mr. Bolton says. ter, who called an appraiser. Ms. Cairone, a soft-spoken To Ms. Cairone’s disappoint- mother of twins, started out buy- ment, one had been altered into a ing vintage haute couture to wear. suit, erasing most of its value. But But when her collection spilled the other eight dresses were in out of her closet into the rest of near-perfect condition. She esti- her New York apartment, she set mates she’ll sell them for be- up a booth at a trade show to sell tween $5,900 and $10,000 apiece. off a few pieces. One thing led to The following week, Ms. another, and a few years back, she Cairone was seated next to Mr. opened a boutique, called Rare Bolton at the Metropolitan Mu- Rare Vintage (dresses); Kurt Wilberding/WSJ Lwv} In Japanese cheerleading, one squad stands apart . E`vv Gm`q}` Tokyo 20-year-old Daiki Kanai, who at the top of their lungs in unison Shockers at Tokyo’s prestigious Shockers began with Mr. Kano national cheerleading started cheerleading two years at sporting events like college Waseda University in 2004, says and four other students. They competition in Japan ago. “Our hard practice finally baseball games. They are accom- it was initially a whim—he trained at least three evenings a a few months ago pit- paid off.” panied by drums, and wave a thought it would be fun and he’d week, often in a nearby park un- ted teams of young American-style cheerleading large school flag that they con- gain attention by leading a der streetlights, at times sneak- miniskirted women is increasingly popular in Japan, sider sacred. It’s serious busi- group of men waving pompoms. ing into an all-girls high school to against- one another. but—as in other countries, in- ness—smiling is a big taboo. But once he saw female cheer- practice with its cheerleaders The winners, though, looked a cluding the U.S.—all-male teams Little wonder that when Ameri- leaders practicing, he was taken and their coach. little different. are rare indeed. Founded four can-style cheerleading, with its by the skills required. New members started trick- For one thing, the 24-mem- years ago by an enterprising col- smiles and lively pop songs, ar- “It’s thrilling when you nail the ling in, including former soccer ber Shockers squad dresses in lege student, Shockers has rived in the mid-1980s, many Japa- acrobatic moves,” says Mr. Kano, and basketball players, and by baggy shorts and T-shirts. For gained nationwide fame show- nese were captivated. The new now 23, who played varsity base- the time of Waseda’s school festi- another, it consists entirely of ing its athletic moves on televi- style quickly spread, and today the ball in high school. “Cheerleading val that autumn, Shockers had 10 men. Shockers bested 14 all-fe- sion. But the members have a country has more than 300 squads, has elements of both entertain- members. Their performance at male teams to win the main broader mission: to help bring some with members in their 70s, ment and athleticism, and that’s the festival, in front of 5,000 curi- cheerleading category, impress- the spirit and fun back to an ac- though most are made up of fe- what appeals to me.” ous observers, put Shockers in ing the judges with a dynamic tivity that has turned increas- male high-school and college stu- This being Japan, members the spotlight. Invitations came in 2µ-minute routine that in- ingly rigid in Japan. dents who cheer for their school say they have also found a spiri- to appear on TV shows and to per- cluded back flips and airborne Organized cheering or oendan sports teams. (Shockers is an ex- tual side to the sport.