The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion Dress, Body, Culture Series Editor Joanne B. Eicher, Regents’ Professor, University of Minnesota Books in this provocative series seek to articulate the connections between culture and dress which is defined here in its broadest possible sense as any modification or supplement to the body. Interdisciplinary in approach, the series highlights the dialogue between identity and dress, cosmetics, coiffure, and body alterations as manifested in practices as varied as plastic surgery, tattooing, and ritual scarification. The series aims, in particular, to analyze the meaning of dress in relation to popular culture and gender issues and will include works grounded in anthropology, sociology, history, art history, literature, and folklore. ISSN: 1360-466X Previously published titles in the Series Helen Bradley Foster, “New Raiments of Self”: African American Clothing in the Antebellum South Claudine Griggs, S/he: Changing Sex and Changing Clothes Michaele Thurgood Haynes, Dressing Up Debutantes: Pageantry and Glitz in Texas Anne Brydon and Sandra Niessen, Consuming Fashion: Adorning the Transnational Body Dani Cavallaro and Alexandra Warwick, Fashioning the Frame: Boundaries, Dress and the Body Judith Perani and Norma H. Wolff, Cloth, Dress and Art Patronage in Africa Linda B. Arthur, Religion, Dress and the Body Paul Jobling, Fashion Spreads: Word and Image in Fashion Photography Fadwa El-Guindi, Veil: Modesty, Privacy and Resistance Thomas S. Abler, Hinterland Warriors and Military Dress: European Empires and Exotic Uniforms Linda Welters, Folk Dress in Europe and Anatolia: Beliefs about Protection and Fertility Kim K. P. Johnson and Sharron J. Lennon, Appearance and Power Barbara Burman, The Culture of Sewing Annette Lynch, Dress, Gender and Cultural Change Antonia Young, Women Who Become Men David Muggleton, Inside Subculture: The Postmodern Meaning of Style Nicola White, Reconstructing Italian Fashion: America and the Development of the Italian Fashion Industry Brian J. McVeigh, Wearing Ideology: The Uniformity of Self-Presentation in Japan Shaun Cole, Don We Now Our Gay Apparel: Gay Men’s Dress in the Twentieth Century Kate Ince, Orlan: Millennial Female Nicola White and Ian Griffiths, The Fashion Business: Theory, Practice, Image Ali Guy, Eileen Green and Maura Banim, Through the Wardrobe: Women’s Relationships with their Clothes Linda B. Arthur, Undressing Religion: Commitment and Conversion from a Cross-Cultural Perspective William J. F. Keenan, Dressed to Impress: Looking the Part Joanne Entwistle and Elizabeth Wilson, Body Dressing Leigh Summers, Bound to Please: A History of the Victorian Corset Paul Hodkinson, Goth: Identity, Style and Subculture Michael Carter, Fashion Classics from Carlyle to Barthes Sandra Niessen, Ann Marie Leshkowich and Carla Jones, Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress Kim K. P. Johnson, Susan J. Torntore and Joanne B. Eicher, Fashion Foundations: Early Writings on Fashion and Dress Helen Bradley Foster and Donald Clay Johnson, Wedding Dress Across Cultures Eugenia Paulicelli, Fashion Under Fascism: Beyond the Black Shirt DRESS, BODY, CULTURE The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion Yuniya Kawamura Oxford • New York To My Family Yoya, Yoko and Maya Kawamura First published in 2004 by Berg Editorial offices: 1st Floor, Angel Court, 81 St Clements Street, Oxford, OX4 1AW, UK 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA © Yuniya Kawamura 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of Berg. Berg is an imprint of Oxford International Publishers Ltd. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 85973 810 9 (Cloth) 1 85973 815 X (Paper) Typeset by JS Typesetting Ltd, Wellingborough, Northants. Printed in the United Kingdom by Biddles Ltd, King’s Lynn. www.bergpublishers.com Disclaimer: Some images in the original version of this book are not available for inclusion in the eBook. Contents Figures vii Tables viii Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Clothing and Fashion 1 Part 1: Fashion Culture in France 111 Fashion Dominance in France: History and Institutions 21 222 The Modern Fashion System in France 35 333 The Global Diffusion Mechanism of Fashion: Past and Present 57 444 Social and Technical Differences among Haute Couture, Demi-Couture and Prêt-à-Porter 73 Part 2: Interdependence between Japanese Designers and the French Fashion System 555 The Japanese Fashion Phenomenon in Paris since 1970 91 666 Type 1: Kenzo. Complete Assimilation into the French Fashion System 113 777 Type 2: Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto. Construction of the Avant-Garde Japanese Fashion 125 v Contents 888 Type 3: Hanae Mori. Attainment of the Ultimate Designer Status in Paris 151 Conclusion: Paris as the Battlefield of Fashion 163 Appendix A: Research Design 165 Appendix B: Interview Schedule 173 Appendix C: Supplementary Tables 175 Bibliography 181 Index 195 vi Figures 2.1 Institutional network in the modern fashion system in France 37 2.2 Organizational structure of the Federation 53 4.1 Sales composition of couture houses by sectors in 1995 81 5.1 Professional and school network among Japanese designers in Paris 101 6.1 Kenzo from Spring/Summer 1996 collection 116 6.2 Kenzo from Spring/Summer 2000 collection 117 7.1 Yohji Yamamoto from Fall/Winter 1984 collection 132 7.2 Issey Miyake: A Piece of Cloth 1976 135 7.3 Issey Miyake: A-POC 1999 136 7.4 Comme des Garçons by Rei Kawakubo from Fall/Winter 2002 collection 139 7.5 Comme des Garçons by Rei Kawakubo from Spring/Summer 1997 collection 142 7.6 Yohji Yamamoto from Spring/Summer 1999 collection 143 8.1 Hanae Mori from Spring/Summer 1989 Haute Couture collection 155 8.2 Hanae Mori from Fall/Winter 1993 Haute Couture collection 156 vii Tables 2.1 Chronology of the Federation 38 2.2 Ranks and monthly wages of seamstresses at Nina Ricci Haute Couture 43 2.3 Total number of Haute Couture houses 1872–2003 44 2.4 The Golden Thimble Award winners 1976–1991 45 2.5 Members in the fashion/couture and fragrance sectors of Le Comité Colbert 49 4.1 Members of La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne (as of January 2003) 79 4.2 Members of La Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode and La Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Masculine (as of March 2003) 80 5.1 Japanese designers’ first collection dates in Paris 105 A.1 Occupational breakdown of interviewees 168 A.2 Fashion shows observed 169 A.3 Fashion-related events and trade fairs in Paris, 1998–9 170 C.1 Members of Le Comité Colbert, 2002 (excluding fashion/couture and fragrance sectors) 175 C.2 The Presidents of La Chambre Syndicale de la Parisienne and the Federation 1868–present 177 C.3 Awards received by Kenzo, Kawakubo, Miyake, Yamamoto and Mori 178 viii Acknowledgments I owe a very special debt of gratitude to my mentor and advisor, Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson of Columbia University, who has supported me since the beginning of my research and devoted precious time to reading and com- menting on the manuscript at different stages of the writing process. I am grateful for her wisdom, friendship and patience. I thank Harrison White, Valerie Steele, Mary Ruggie, Vera Zolberg and Kelly Moore for their super- vision of the PhD dissertation which forms the basis of this book. My appreciation also goes to Carol Poll, Chair of the Social Sciences Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), State University of New York, who read parts of the manuscript and gave me very important suggestions. Words cannot describe the amount of support she has given me both personally and professionally. I thank all my other colleagues in the Department, Yasemin Celik, Jean-Ellen Giblin, Kevin MacDonald, Joseph Maiorca, Meg Miele, Roberta Paley, Ernest Poole and Spencer Schein, who always expressed their interest in my work, and Lou Zaera who helped me edit some of the images for this book. My inspirational and creative students at FIT with whom I engage in a lively and interesting discussion on fashion and clothing provided a valuable sounding board for the development of my ideas. My research in Paris from 1998 to 1999 was constructive thanks to Bozena and Goran Blix, Veronika Dürpisch, Takuji Ikeda, Anne-Marie and Mathieu Romagnani and Geoffrey Turnovsky, who made my stay very enjoyable and memorable. Pierre-Michel Menger of the Centre de Sociologie des Arts in Paris allowed me to attend his seminar at the Ecole des Haute Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Kei Mori introduced me new insights on Haute Couture and gave me the tour of his mother’s couture atelier in Paris. Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune gave me a great deal of information about fashion journalism, and Katell Le Bourhis of Christian Dior Couture shared with me interesting perspectives on the fashion industry and showed me the famous staircase of the Dior salon. Diana Crane of the University of Pennsylvania supplied me with pragmatic advice at the initial stage of my research when I first arrived in Paris. Kenryu Hashikawa of Chiba University with whom I often exchanged ideas about this project gave me intellectual suggestions and comments. My heartfelt appreciation goes to all of them. ix Acknowledgments I also thank the patient and gracious assistance provided by the library staff at the Bibliothèque Forney, Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris, Columbia Uni- versity, Institut Français de la Mode, Fashion Institute of Technology and Bunka School of Fashion. Yasuko Suita and Momoko Fukai of Hanae Mori Haute Couture, Kara Wachtveitl and Mari Fujiuchi of Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garçons, Miyake Design Studio and the staff at FirstVIEW.com generously provided me with the photographs.