Junya Watanabe: "Techno-Couture"
By: Mari Davis
(Photo below: From the Junya Watanabe Fall 2004 collection.)

Junya Watanabe was born in Japan in 1961, and studied at the Bunkafukuso Gakuin Institute in Tokyo. He apprenticed under Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, first as a pattern maker, and then enventually a designer.

Under Rei Kawakubo's patronage, Junya Watanabe struck out on his own in 1994 to launch his own label.

Like his mentor, Watanabe's style is deeply rooted in Comme des Garçons's aesthetic (mix of bright and dark colors, whimsically placed or upside-down pockets, de-emphasized shoulders, extra-long sleeves), but the layering, textures and colors are slightly exaggerated.

Though his clothes are usually seen as part of techno couture, it is far from being harsh nor science-fiction.

Watanabe's definition of "techno couture" is turning silhouettes from a bygone era to something completely new, as in, the fashion of the American west, to present day style.

Fall 2004 (Photo by FW)

Menswear Fall 2005 (Photo by FW)

JUNYA WATANABE
16, place Vendôme
75001 Paris
FRANCE

Press Contact:
Haruko SEKIHARA
Tel: +33 1 47 03 60 90
Fax: +33 1 42 96 20 33