Serge Mouange introduces the WAfrica concept and kimono on Vimeo
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Serge Mouange introduces the WAfrica concept and kimono
1 month ago 1 month ago: Mon, Sep 28, 2009 9:54pm EST (Eastern Standard Time)
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The name WAfrica is a combination of the word for Japanese spirit, "wa," and Africa.
"In 2007, I experimented with Japanese kimono by producing them with African fabrics," says Serge Mouangue, who has been working in Tokyo for the past three years as a conceptual car designer for Nissan Motor Company. "After showing them to Japanese audiences, many people felt the resulting garment existed beyond boundaries it was neither Japanese nor African, it was part of a heretofore unknown world, a 'third aesthetic'."
A French Cameroonian, Mouangue has produced his kimono in collaboration with Odasho, a 150-year-old Kyoto-based kimono maker.
"I want people to experience the birth of totally new cultural dimensions," Mouangue says. "West Africa and Japan have never truly met when it comes to their historical traditions, thus with the WAfrica kimono, I realized that there is the possibility of creating something complete original a third aesthetic that is more than a simple blending of two existing cultures."
The New York magazine Paper says: "By highlighting the histories and beauty of the two (cultures), Serge Mouangue creates something glorious and sublime."
"In 2007, I experimented with Japanese kimono by producing them with African fabrics," says Serge Mouangue, who has been working in Tokyo for the past three years as a conceptual car designer for Nissan Motor Company. "After showing them to Japanese audiences, many people felt the resulting garment existed beyond boundaries it was neither Japanese nor African, it was part of a heretofore unknown world, a 'third aesthetic'."
A French Cameroonian, Mouangue has produced his kimono in collaboration with Odasho, a 150-year-old Kyoto-based kimono maker.
"I want people to experience the birth of totally new cultural dimensions," Mouangue says. "West Africa and Japan have never truly met when it comes to their historical traditions, thus with the WAfrica kimono, I realized that there is the possibility of creating something complete original a third aesthetic that is more than a simple blending of two existing cultures."
The New York magazine Paper says: "By highlighting the histories and beauty of the two (cultures), Serge Mouangue creates something glorious and sublime."
Comments
qipao/cheongsam
a few years ago i took some african wax fabric and made a qipao or cheongsam out of it...same idea! but a little more wearable in western culture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheongsam
That sounds lovely, and wearable, I know how to sew- I need piggyback off that idea.