Beautiful, delicate, and cute headpieces made with majotae, a fabric astounding for its whiteness, softness, and texture. Hemp cloth, a fabric long forgotten by the Japanese. While a familiar part of Japanese life until the early Meiji period, hemp cloth lagged behind industrialization due to the difficulty of spinning it. Furthermore, production plummeted due to the GHQ's Hemp Control Law. It naturally disappeared from Japan. However, in the fall of 2014, the unbroken history of hemp cloth was unearthed, and modern industrial technology was used to revive it as "majotae," a 100% hemp, domestically produced fabric. Creators who empathize with the story of the revived hemp cloth, "majotae," will present an installation expressing its "future possibilities" at "Majotae: A Fabric the Japanese Forgot," which will be held at the Isetan Shinjuku Main Building's 7th floor event hall from April 1st. One of the participating creators is hair and makeup artist Katsuya Kamo, who continues to create unique styles for collection shows such as UNDERCOVER, JUNYA WATANABE COMME des GARÇONS, and CHANEL. We visited his studio, where he was in the midst of creating "majotae," to find out what he plans to express using the "majotae" collection. - The studio is full of immersive production, but what kind of creations are you trying to create with the "majotae" collection this time? I'm currently creating five headpieces using the "majotae." At first, I thought it would be best to unite all five pieces under a single theme, but as I began creating them, each one began to have its own independent image, with a pop feel or a simple style. I now think that a variety of expressions will be more enjoyable for viewers. - What was your experience working with the "majotae" collection?

I was very surprised by the texture of hemp cloth, which is not only white and soft, but also has a silk-like feel. I chose four types for the headpieces: the thinnest, medium, and thickest. The expression (what I want to express and what I can achieve) changes with each thickness. The texture of the material is also an important element in expression.

--How did you create these five headpieces?

As with most of your other headpieces, I started right away with a prototype.

--I sense a traditional Kamo-ism in the roses and geometric motifs in your works. On the other hand, what was your inspiration for creating pop motifs like mushrooms and bunny ears?

I thought ears were cute, or that mushrooms on a head were pop, or something like that (laughs). I've had many opportunities to meet young people recently, and I often find their words and sensibilities fascinating. I'm also interested in the street fashion of today's young people. The other day, there was a kid who had about 20 Mickey Mouse designs attached to his bag—20 of them! (laughs) They were so crazy, I thought, "Amazing!" I wanted to express something that, while not necessarily making sense, would make you go, "Amazing!" when you see it.

--It certainly makes you want to get closer and think, "What is this!?" But whether the motif is a pop ear or a mushroom, or a beautiful rose or geometric pattern, I'm amazed at the intricacy of the expression. The attention to detail, like the thorns and the way the mushrooms grow, is incredible.

I really value the first impression. If there's something off about it, it's no good. That off-putting feeling is something that's sensory and hard to put into words, like this thorn is good, but this one's not. I make multiple prototypes to get the thorns I like. Also, for mushrooms, if they grow out to the side instead of straight, it looks more mushroom-like and sticks out. It's a small thing, but each one of those things contributes to the overall visual impression.

In the second part, we will explore the thoughts and attitudes that Asayo puts into her creations, as well as the source of her own ideas.

Continued on 2/2.