Yuima Nakazato Fall 2024 Couture: Primeval Poetry

Yuima Nakazato often combines the spiritual and the theatrical in his shows, and this season was no exception. His recent work on costumes for Mozart’s opera “Idomeneo” got under his skin, it seems, and this time it was the set design for the production, which opened in Geneva in February, that ran through his designs.

Red ropes, a key element in the staging, wove their way like arteries through his designs thanks to a combination of techniques, from fringing to an erratic association of threadwork, crochet and lace or organza piping and digital prints. “All humans have red color inside the body,” he said backstage, nodding to the fragility and intricacy of human nature.

Ceremonial robe-like pieces and voluminous tailoring representing armor — a reference to the ancient Greek setting of the opera as well as today’s workaday uniforms we hide our true selves behind — were peeled away as his models walked down the runway. They shed their black outer layers to reveal the vivid web-like structures below, leaving them trailing, attached to the silhouette to reveal the fragility within. Sculptural pieces were pleated in irregular organic layers, and shirt-like designs revealed the shoulders, lapels open on the back to show intricate fan-like details.

A tie-up with jeweler Mikimoto offered elaborate black pearl jewelry representing the sea that plays an integral part in the opera’s plot scenario, and Nakazato’s hand-cast ceramics played a greater role than ever in the designs, whether as jewelry or incorporated into the clothing representing battle garb.

Dancers on the runway, standing on circular mirrors on the floor past which the models walked, wore costumes embroidered with hundreds of ceramic pendants specially made in-house to clink together as they danced a choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, with whom the designer collaborated on “Idomeneo.”

“The dresses become an instrument, creating very primitive sounds,” Nakazato explained, a contrast with the classical arrangements in the background.