Richie Hawtin

The exhibition "BRIAN ENO AMBIENT KYOTO," which opened in June at the former Welfare Center of Kyoto Chuo Shinkin Bank in Kyoto, has been extended beyond its original schedule until September 3rd due to popular demand. This reevaluation of this great artist, who pioneered ambient music and had a major influence on techno music, also seems to foreshadow events to come after the pandemic.


BRIAN ENO AMBIENT KYOTO venue view: "Light Boxes"

Eno's exhibition, themed around light and sound, is a relaxing experience for both men and women, with no conversation required. Fans who've known him since the '70s, along with young people in their twenties, enjoyed the space, each freely, in a space with a precisely designed sound system.

The minimalist expression of techno and ambient music, which minimized text and words (though some of Eno's works included lyrics and poetry), is content that can be shared whether physically, virtually, online, or offline, and drew an unusually large number of attendees for a subculture event. This overlaps with the trend in Japan from the late 1970s, when techno music became popular, and the early 1980s, when minimalist fashion, represented by Yugoslavian Zoran (who made waves at the New York Fashion Week) and Milan's Gianfranco Ferré, dominated the fashion scene. It also coincides with the trend toward oversized silhouettes, which was passed down from Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia's Vetements to Balenciga. In recent seasons, international luxury brands have been quick to adopt a variety of events that combine ambient and techno music with spatial visuals. This also works well for digital presentations. To celebrate the first anniversary of the opening of its Omotesando flagship store, Bottega Veneta will be hosting the event "THE SQUARE TOKYO" from July 1st to July 10th. The physical event featured furniture made from Bottega Veneta fabrics, a performance by contemporary musician and pianist Hara Marihiko, an ambient soundscape created by Osawa Shinichi, and original blend sencha tea from the Sakurai Hocha Laboratory.

This time we bring you a report on "PRADA EXTENDS," a closed event held by Prada in Tokyo in July that was open to the public online.

Club Culture and Brand Communication Post-Pandemic

photo by tatsuya noda

On July 21, Prada held its new post-pandemic project, "PRADA EXTENDS," in Tokyo. The first event was originally scheduled for Tokyo, but due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held at Tate Modern Tanks in London in November of last year. Richie Hawtin (aka Plastikman), a techno DJ and artist active since the 1990s, was appointed as curator, and the event featured a club party featuring young techno artists and VJs, which was held both in person and online.

Richie Hawtin (left) with Naohiro Ukawa of Dommune, who served as talk show facilitator.

The first part of "PRADA EXTENDS TOKYO" was a talk show held at the Prada Miyashita Park store in Shibuya, and the second part was an invitation-only event held at Warehouse Terrada, a club. Richie's talk show was livestreamed via the livestreaming studio "DOMMUNE." The footage from Warehouse Terrada was released on Prada's official website and YouTube channel in early August. Prada, which has previously collaborated with "academic" cultures like architecture, design, and art, decided to hold a content event focused on "subcultures" like clubbing and techno, signaling a major shift in the luxury industry. Just as LVMH revitalized its menswear brand by infusing it with skater culture through Kim Jones and hip-hop culture through Virgil Abloh, Prada's hiring of Richie, one of the world's leading ambient techno DJs and artists, has brought an entirely new audience to the brand. The event was moderated, of course, by Raf Simons.

Raf Simons and Richie Hawtin: The Fuse to Millennials

Since the pandemic began in February 2020, the Milan men's fashion week has primarily been held online. The first major surprise at the show was the news that Raf Simons would be appointed co-creative director of Prada. Raf took over on April 2nd of that year, and presented the Spring/Summer 2021 women's collection with Mrs. Prada (Miuccia Prada) in September. Just before that, Miuccia Prada's men's collection, held in July, featured a minimalist style that could be considered a prototype for the Prada brand that was preparing for Raf's arrival.

While there are many possible reasons why Prada chose Raf as co-creative director, it seems that Miuccia best understood Raf's talent and his influence on millennials, having presented only his own signature line since leaving Calvin Klein in 2018. Raf served as creative director for Jil Sander when it was under the Prada umbrella (2005-2011), and the two have a good understanding of each other.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Raf and Miuccia Prada presented their 2021/2022 Autumn/Winter and 2022 Spring/Summer collections digitally. Immediately after the show, they connected with press and students from around the world online, and Miuccia, who normally doesn't give interviews, spoke alongside Raf about her creations. This video gave a sense of the changes in the maison since the pandemic. Richie has been in charge of music since that first collection. Incidentally, Richie was also in charge of music when Raf was creative director at Dior, and in 2021 he launched a new NFT project in collaboration with fellow DJ deadmau5.


MACHINA



UTA

This time, performances were by Tokyo-based artists machina and Yuri Urano, and Lionclad from South Korea, all female artists. The VJs were the units Richie Hawtin x Kaoru Tanaka, Lionclad x Ken-ichi Kawamura, machina x Shohei Fujimoto, and Yuri Urano x Manami Sakamoto, and many celebrities, including models UTA and Yamada Yu, came to take part in photo sessions on the day.


Text by Tatsuya Noda: Founding Editor-in-Chief of Fashion Headline

*This article has been revised and edited from the article published in the September 2022 issue of Monthly Shopping Architecture (on sale August 28th), with additional photos added.