beauty:beast & 2beauty:beast
SPRING/SUMMER 1999
1999春夏東京コレクション
1999 Spring/Summer Tokyo Collections
February 1999
High Fashion No.265
Photography by Atsushi Ojima (B.P.B.) and Daisaku Ito (B.P.B.)
無駄なものがそげ落ちたイメージをポケットを内側に隠したり、ミニマルなボックスシルエットなどで表現。高密度なシルクスクリーンにプリントをのせたものと毛芯を重ねるなど新しい素材使いも見られた。オルソ・ビューティ:ビーストは、織りやステッチ、染めに趣向を凝らしたビンテージ風デニム、ナイトカムフラージュ柄をドットの集合体で表わしたプリント使いなどのカジュアルスタイルを見せた。
The impression of reduced futility was expressed through the use of hidden pockets and minimalist box silhouettes. New materials were used, such as high-density silk screen prints overlaid with a woolen core. 2beauty:beast showed casual styles with vintage-style denim elaborately woven, stitched, and dyed, and prints of night camouflage patterns expressed as clusters of dots.
’99春夏東京メンズコレクション。
’99 Spring/Summer Tokyo Men’s Collections.
February 1999
MR. High Fashion No.88
Photography by Yasuhisa Takenouchi (B.P.B.), Atsushi Ojima (B.P.B.), Daisaku Ito (B.P.B.), and Yoshio Kato (B.P.B.)
オルソはデニムやナイロンなどの素材にミリタリーやスポーツウェアのディテールを効かせたストリートスタイル、カウボーイや星条旗のモチーフも登場。ビューティ:ビーストはシンプルな白と黒のウェアにレザーや蛍光色の小物をプラスしたフューチャーシック。
For 2beauty:beast, denim, nylon, and other materials with military and sportswear detailing, along with street style, cowboys, and star-spangled banner motifs made an appearance. beauty:beast is future chic with simple black and white wear and leather and fluorescent accessories. For beauty:beast, it is futuristic chic with simple black and white clothing plus leather and fluorescent accessories.
beauty:beast Dark Knight Violence 1999 Series No.012, Limited Edition Postcard
Illustration by Takao Yamashita
’99春夏東京メンズコレクションのトピックス。
’99 Spring/Summer Tokyo Men’s Collections Topics.
February 1999
MR. High Fashion No.88
Photography by Yasuhisa Takenouchi (B.P.B.), Atsushi Ojima (B.P.B.), Daisaku Ito (B.P.B.), and Yoshio Kato (B.P.B.)
tickets & novelty
前回の’98-’99秋冬コレクションのノベルティとして配られた人形に合わせた’99春夏の着せ替え服。毎シーズン、デザインを変えて、チケットと共に配られる予定。
’99 Spring/Summer dress-up clothes to match the dolls that were given out as novelties for the last ’98-’99 Fall/Winter collection. The design will change each season and will be distributed along with the tickets.
大きなカプセルにセットされた着せ替え人形用の服。人形は前回のコレクションのノベルティ。
Clothes for dress-up dolls set in a large capsule. The dolls are novelties from the previous collection.
幻想的な森の写真の100×73センチ大のポスター。先シーズン会場となった三井倶楽部でのショーの映像が使われている。
A 100×73 cm large poster of a fantastic forest picture. It uses an image from a show at the Mitsui Club, which was the venue last season.
check items: bag
正方形のバッグは、ストラップのつけ替えでメッセンジャーバッグにもリュックサックにもなる。
The square bag can be converted into a messenger bag or a backpack by changing the straps.
check items: shoes
ロボットのようにデフォルメされた大きな靴は、ショーの中でもひときわ目立っていた。
The large, deformed, robot-like shoes stood out in the show.
face: international top models
ELVIS
H.: 180 / HAIR: BLONDE
EYES: GREEN-GREY
AGE: 20
NATIONALITY: SWITZERLAND
BEAUTY:BEAST
愛嬌のある垂れ目が チャームポイントのエルヴィス。 日本での活躍も目立つ人気モデル。
Elvis' charming droopy eyes are a point of attraction. He is a popular model who is also active in Japan.
stage effect
芝公園スタジオで行なわれたビューティ:ビーストのコレクションは、ディテールやシルエットをダイレクトに見せたブルールームとイメージ優先のイメージルームの二部屋で演出された。イメージルームでは、ブルールームで撮影したモデルの映像と、'98-'99秋冬コ レクションのイメージ映像とを合成し、"心の時の超越"というテーマで表現した。デジタル化しつつある日常とともに、コレクションの方法にも変化が訪れたようだ。
The beauty:beast collection, held at a studio in Shiba Park, was presented in two rooms: the Blue Room, which directly showed details and silhouettes, and the Image Room, which gave priority to images. In the Image Room, images of models shot in the Blue Room were combined with images from the Autumn/Winter ’98-’99 collection to express the theme of transcending time in the mind. As daily life is becoming digitalized, the method of presenting collections seems to be changing as well.
右上 入場時に配られたノベルティのカプセル。右中 ショーの最中にブルールームで使用された"アイトレック"。これをかけることによって、合成された画像を見ることができる。左上 画面の前をウォーキングするモデル。下 イメージルームでの映像。テーマをイメージした映像と、ブルールームを歩くモデルの姿が映し出された。6枚のスクリーンで構成された画面右下には、経過時間が表示されている。
Top right: Novelty capsules handed out at the entrance. Middle right: "Eye-Trek" used in the Blue Room during the show. By applying this, a composite image can be seen. Upper left: A model walking in front of the screen. Below: Images in the Image Room. The lower right corner of the screen, consisting of six screens, shows the elapsed time.
99S/S TOKYO
Fashion News Vol.51
On 11月1日（日）18:00／20:30
At 芝公園スタジオ
Who 山下隆生
D.O.B. 1966年2月6日長崎県生まれ
M.S. 9r（キュア）
On November 1, 18:00/20:30
At Shiba Park Studio
Who Takao Yamashita
D.O.B. February 6, 1966, in Nagasaki, Japan
M.S. 9r (Cure)
摂南大学土木建築科在学中の87年第1回丸井デザイナーオーディション流行通信大賞に応募したのがきっかけでデザイナーを志す。89年ブランド設立。91年大阪コレに94年パリコレに初参加。98年「2beauty:beast」をスタート。現在では数々のライセンスも持つ。
As a student of civil engineering and architecture at Setsunan University, he entered the first Marui Designer Audition Trend Communication Grand Prix in 1987, which inspired him to become a designer. In 1989, he established his brand. In 1991, he participated in the Osaka collections and, in 1994, in the Paris collections. In 1998, “2beauty:beast” was launched. He currently holds a number of licenses.
映像とファッションをリミックスして発表された今シーズンのテーマは、ハイパーリミックス。60年代を思わせるクラシックな要素とスポーツウェアのディテールをハイパーにリミックスし、フューチャリスティックなテイストに仕上げた。モノクロームの世界に加え、蛍光色の黄色やピンクが印象的だった。会場の観客達は、眼鏡タイプの液晶ディスプレーを装着し、デジタルな映像と最新のコレクションをリミックスしながら鑑賞した。
Presented as a remix of images and fashion, this season's theme was hyper-remix: Classic elements reminiscent of the 60's and details of sportswear were hyper-remixed to create a futuristic taste. In addition to the monochrome environment, fluorescent yellows and pinks were striking. The audience wore a type of LCD display glasses and watched the digital images remixed with the latest collection.
Source unknown
Survival of the Fittest
January 2000
View on Colour No.14
Written by Valerie Koehn
The new wave of Japanese Fashion of the fittest more discerning, setting up a survival-of-the-fittest kind of market. Beauty: Beast designer Takao Yamashita, 33, speaks in unison with his peers when he says that "quality has become a trend. I see the market splitting into two extremes: either really cheap and available clothing, or expensive and high quality fashion. Nothing in between will survive." He continues, "It used to be that a certain brand name was enough to impart a sense of value to an item, but today the customer wants that one extra something with the product."
If anyone has added that extra something, it's Yamashita. Beauty: Beast offers a full range of women's and men's clothing, shoes, bags and accessories, as well as product design in everything from furniture to CD players. The label is also involved in film and animation, and has released four original CDs. Beauty: Beast also has an exclusive relationship with Costume Paradise, purveyors of animation and related goods, to work on developing "virtual fashion."
Yamashita says his work is about inner growth, and about Looking at and marrying the forces of good and evil that coexist in humans. For A/W '00, Yamashita plans to use yellow, and the sunflower as a working theme. "I see society as a field of sunflowers. Yet we usually see the tall, narrow upturned face of the sunflower in photographs as a single flower. It's somehow symbolic of the fact that there really are no basic trends anymore, but there is the individual," he says.
For the moment, this young batch of designers is counting its blessings. Indeed, while news continues to focus on Japan's economic woes, they have much to be thankful for. Gomme has grown 40-50% over the last five years, and started up a men's line last season. Under Cover designer Jun Takahashi, 29, claims a 70% growth over last year. Beauty: Beast has never experienced a year-on-year drop in sales since its inception in 1990, and has begun expanding into the European market.
Today's Japan is rife with young people clamouring for evermore ways to enjoy life. Sales of music CDs have never been brisker. Digital items such as mobile phones in metallic green and blinking blue, G-Shock wristwatches and colourful Walkman headphones have become fashion accessories in their own right. Sportswear-inspired casual clothing with the message that relaxation and leisure are part of life continues to inform much of today's Japanese fashion.
It is this wave of thrill-seeking youth—those least affected by economic swings—that Japan's fashion designers have been riding. In fact, the painful restructuring going on in companies throughout Japan has actually been a boon for the young as salaried employees are replaced with junior part-time workers, thus increasing the numbers of young people with pocket money.
But the winds of change are blowing, as they inevitably do. The trickle-down effects of the recession are beginning to reach this twenty-something-and-under market. The young shopper is beginning to save for that one special item, rather than spending with abandon. Increasing numbers of young consumers are put- ting together their own version of fashion with what's already in their closets. Put simply, the Japanese customer is growing up. This in itself presents new challenges for designers.
If a common current is to be found among Japan's young designers, perhaps it is a shared lack of a Western complex. Japanese creativity seems to be surging forth independent of what's happening overseas. With the exception perhaps of Hiroshige, it isn't as much a strong identification with being Japanese as it is a sense of not being anyone else. Th[REDACTED] these designers to assure the crea[REDACTED] fashion is to sharpen the definitio[REDACTED] them in the face of the ever-chang[UNKNOWN]
use language, it isn't enough—but making a jacket, when people see it, they feel that it is totally angry, and that it's a really pissed off Jacket. That is what I wanted to say, and whether they need it or not is another stage. If they start to wear this jacket then it is because they have a need to express the feeling of anger this jacket represents.
"It becomes a part of their character, and this is what I like the most.
"So I started to make sense of it, that maybe I was making clothes to communicate with people. That sort of became a new direction for us. I get information through our shops telling me that these trousers are very popular for young kids this season. I think: why this trouser? Why is it popular? I know why that trouser exists, but why do they want it? And that can give direction an idea for the next direction. So I keep doing that kind of communication.
The Tomato building in London is a hub of creativity and communication with direct links to fashion through Simon and the advertising campaigns its graphics team produces for the likes of Nike and Adidas. Paddy Meehan, a partner in beauty:beast believes the idea is that language is not a very good way to communicate. We need a higher level. We do it through clothes. Tomato do it through images.
All the work that is done by Tomato is about originally self-generated ideas that are then applied to corporate projects and those ideas aren't compromised. What we try and do is stay as true and honest to those ideas as possible and make the job work with them. I think the corporations employ us to do what we do, and therefore understand that they have to let us do that.
"If they are employing us as a service they have probably come to the wrong place because what we can provide to something other than a service.What we provide is our collective thinking, that thinking is going on regardless of the corporations.
"I'm not trying to be diminutive of corporations. They are what they are, and that's the world we live in. We have a point of view that we want to put across and we will find ways to do that, and the stronger we are at doing it, the more chances we'll have of doing it in the future. Neither am I going to try and pretend that all of the work we produce is 100 percent teeth bared honesty—because it's not. The philosophy of the place is that you should try to be as honest as you can. This is exactly what we set out to do."
Urban Action, and the latest book that Tomato is about to release, are an example of this kind of communication and thinking that are ongoing within the group. "It's very, very important to keep publishing on your own terms, on your own ideas, states Simon.
"When I was 18 there were all of these Japanese people in London and didn't know anything about them. I kept seeing them in nightclubs, so I got chatting with a few of them and I found them really really friendly. We started hanging out and we became friends, so I thought I would go and see where they came from."
Simon designed the logo for beauty:beast back in 1994. After seeing the first Paris show "Hate + War for 94" he redesigned the logo and changed the name to its current status, beauty:beast.
"That collection was a very conceptual action for us," comments Takao. "Once we discovered the whole point of our direction, it made it so easy for us to do what we are doing. In Japan all the fashion designers and connections and all the big guys are very strict about the Japanese style or method of fashion and rules. I thought it was freer, but it's very conscious.
"Networking is closed... for example, 'do you know that designer? Oh? Ok, I'm not going to tell you' kind of attitude. A very high society, a kind of elegance. We wanted to break through that fake class system elegantness.
"The real beauty isn't poor or rich, but the mentally rich. We wanted to focus on somebody mentally beautiful, and stopped bothering about those groups of fashion society. Of course we are not against it, we just don't buy into it.
"We wanted to work to a wider vision and if communication is the main thing we want to do, then it is not necessarily only inside of Japan. Of course we want to communicate with English, Spanish, Danish people etc."
The Dark Knights collection Fall/Winter 98 [sic] was a summary of beauty:beast, a retrospective of where they had been, what they had seen, and as Takao stresses, "what we had known" for all the previous years of experimenting.
It was a comment on the exploration into the human struggle. Takao was looking for a classicism to contrast the collection, yet enhance its presentation, hence the classical music and environment.
Dark Knights was the first show to illustrate the beauty:beast concept without compromise. The collection theme being based on the connotations of the words "night and knight". The Knight is mythologically a person who fights spiritually the darkness within, a holy warrior. A Dark Night has connotations of evil, of darkness and foreboding. The show was set in the Tokyo Mitsui Club's garden, reminiscent of old romantic Europe. The models emerged from the misty woods entering the garden, centred with an orate fountain, while an orchestra played on the balcony of the Baroque style palace. A lone saxophonist played on the balcony above, emphasising the drama of the collection.
The most recent collection for Spring/Summer 99 is called the "Hyper Drive". It is about going forward into the next millennium. "In this collection the key word was speed. Everything is based on speed, and speed is controlled by time. We are used to thinking of a lifetime as going from A to B, B to C, but actually on the spiritual side it is more like a spiral direction to going forward, because sometimes you back up to previous ideas.
"... Speed based on the spiritual struggle. Last season was such an excellent space with beautiful models and a beautiful place, beautiful music. Music becomes night and the night covers everyone. This collection we wanted to make a synthetic idea. Something totally in cyber space, where there is no ground and no ceilings and no walls, and there is a spirit going forward. The last collection was a very idealistic view of Gothic—everything was black, with blue and purple in the black. Every season is linked to that, though this season we wanted to try a new idea—a synthetic Gothic—very rich and white with bright colours. The motifs are quite gothic, and we see this could be the next approach to it. It is not necessary for gothic to be dark or quiet"
Fashion has always been about challenging cliches and stereotypes, though few brands successfully explore areas outside of fashion for their concepts.
Source unknown
G-PRODUCTS #1
G20
Published by ASCII
増殖する「モノ」としてのガンダム
インディペンデント系ファッションブランドによるオリジナルＴシャツやシルバーリング、シューズ⋯⋯これらのアイテムは、大人の手によるマーチャンダイジング（商売）ではなく、ガンダムを体験した世代が同世代のために作り出した一種のコミュニケーションツールだ。「ガンダム」をサンプリングしたアイテムをつくること、身につけること、それ自体がひとつの主張になってしまう。これもまた、あきらかに「ガンダム」という存在の20年の歴史がつくりだしたものだ。「宇宙世紀」とも「アニメ」とも微妙に関連しえないこうしたアイテムたちを、あなたはどう思いますか？
Gundam as a proliferating "thing"
Original T-shirts, silver rings, and shoes by independent fashion brands… These items are not adult-led merchandising (commerce), but a kind of communication tool created by the generation that experienced Gundam for the sake of their own generation. Creating and wearing items that sample "Gundam" is a statement in itself. This is also clearly the result of the 20-year history of "Gundam." What do you think of these items, which cannot be subtly associated with either the "space century" or "anime"?
クツ／34,000円
also beauty:beast P'PARCO池袋店（TEL03-5391-8580）セイコーエアプロ（セイコー）／25,000円
beauty:beast神宮前店（TEL03-5468-5444）beauty:beastオリジナルアニメーション「ダークナイト」に登場するキャラ、ティンクのフィギュア。昨年のコレクション時にプレスリリースとして作ったほか、限定生産したものもあったがすべて完売。ティンクが雇用している装甲足、およびドレス等は、COSPA、beauty:beastの各店舗のUFOキャッチャーで手に入る。品薄大。
昨年、10月に行われたalso beauty:beastの春夏コレクション「ＨＹＰＥＲ ＯＶＥＲ ＤＲＩＶＥ」で使用された装甲足／参考品：also beauty:beast
Shoes / ¥34,000
also beauty:beast P'PARCO Ikebukuro store (TEL03-5391-8580)Seiko Air Pro (Seiko) / ¥25,000
beauty:beast Jingumae store (TEL03-5468-5444)This is a figure of Tink, a character from beauty:beast's original animation "Dark Knight." The figures were made as press releases during last year's collection, and some were produced in limited quantities, but all were sold out. The armored feet and dress that Tink employs are available at UFO catchers at COSPA and beauty:beast stores. Large shortage of items.
Armored feet used in the "HYPER OVER DRIVE" Spring/Summer collection of also beauty:beast held last November [sic] / Reference: also beauty:beast
Source unknown
beauty:beast Complete File
SMART
Photography by go relax E more
Styling by Yutaka Watanabe
Full of the latest information on "beauty:beast" from new spring items to CDs and "Gamera".
1．ジャケット¥68,000（beauty：beast）2．カットソー¥26,000（beauty：beast）3．フリンジ・ストライプパンツ¥35,000（beauty：beast）4．傘¥30,000／beauty：beast（マルナカ商事株式会社）5．アニメのキャラクターをフィーチャーして、話題となっている〝COSPA vs beauty：beast〞。今度は3月に東宝系で全国公開される映画「ガメラ3～邪神覚醒」とコラボレート！今回はTシャツ等のウェアのみならず、「life one off project GⅢ EDITION 邪神覚醒」と題してイベントも決行。3／1・20:00～恵比寿「みるく」にて。当日はフィギュアやDVDのプレゼントもアリ。6．ベルト¥9,800（beauty：beast）7．～素材のハット各¥28,000（beauty：beast）8．リュック¥39,000／beauty：beast（株式会社研鑽）9．レインジャケット¥32,000／beauty：beast（マルナカ商事）10．ニットキャップ¥各6,000（beauty：beast）11．ストレッチブルゾン¥38,000（beauty：beast）12．原宿の〝9r beauty：beast〞が〝９re beauty：beast〞と改名してリニューアル！ 1点物のみを扱いオーダーでの展開を予定。13．レザーパンツ¥62,000（beauty：beast）14．春夏コレクションで使った映像作品を〝hyper quartz〞としてビデオ化。1月にリリースされたコレクションのサウンドトラックに続き4月リリース。15．リュック¥22,000／beauty：beast（株式会社枡園）16．ナイロンスパークニット¥32,000（beauty：beast）蛍光レザーシューズ¥45,000（beauty：beast）18．Ｔシャツ各¥7,800（beauty：beast）©大映 TNHN 1999
1. jacket ¥68,000 (beauty:beast) 2. cut and sew ¥26,000 (beauty:beast) 3. fringe striped pants ¥35,000 (beauty:beast) 4. umbrella ¥30,000 / beauty:beast (Marunaka Shoji Co., Ltd.) 5. "COSPA vs beauty:beast" featuring anime characters has become a hot topic. This time, the brand collaborated with the movie "Gamera 3: Evil Awakening," which will be released in March in Japan by Toho! This time, not only T-shirts and other clothing, but also an event titled "life one off project GIII EDITION: Evil Awakening" will be held at "Miruku" in Ebisu on March 1 from 8:00 p.m. The event will also include a figure and DVD giveaway. 6. belt ¥9,800 (beauty:beast) 7. hat ¥28,000 each (beauty:beast) 8. backpack ¥39,000 (beauty:beast) 9. rain jacket ¥32,000 / beauty：beast (Marunaka Trading) 10. knit cap ¥6,000 each (beauty:beast) 11. stretch blouson ¥38,000 (beauty:beast) 12. Harajuku's "9r beauty: beast" has been renamed "9re beauty: beast" and relaunched! Only one-of-a-kind items will be available for order. 13. leather pants ¥62,000 (beauty:beast) 14. video work used for the spring/summer collection is now available as "hyper quartz" video. The soundtrack of the collection was released in January and will be followed by a video in April. 15. backpack ¥22,000 / beauty:beast (Masuen Co., Ltd.) 16. nylon spark knit ¥32,000 (beauty:beast) 17. fluorescent leather shoes ¥45,000 (beauty:beast) 18. T-shirts ¥7,800 each (beauty:beast) © Daiei TNHN 1999
BEAUTY:BEAST
2007
Style Deficit Disorder: Harajuku Street Fashion - Tokyo
Published by Chronicle Books
Written by Tiffany Godoy
Source unknown
Source unknown
beauty:beast: Brand Concept
The conflict between good and evil exists within all sentient beings. It is one of the eternal myths and is found in all forms of human expression.
All light creates shadow. The fighting spirit of our consciousness accepts the challenge created by human existence. The light and the dark are inseparable and their presence affirms our existence. The shadow always follows but it is the light which always leads. This is where there is hope.
Language does not allow us to express the higher ideas of consciousness so we rely upon mythology and symbols. Fashion can be symbolic.
It can express freedom: freedom of thought. It can express the strength of the individual spirit. It can communicate a state of mind: joy, sadness, hope, fear. It can communicate the state of the spirit.
2beauty:beast: Brand Concept
In these times we need to work hard to protect our individual identity in a society which is being thrown into chaos by a constant information overload and which seems to offer endless possibilities and freedom. We need to exploit the mass of opportunities on offer but we also need to maintain control of our situation. To stay in command of our selves. Clothes can be a uniform for the individual to help achieve this.
Clothes can form a protection to help us maintain our freedom as individuals and so maintain our own self order amongst the unstructured chaos of today. Awareness of self allows us the attitude to move forward and evolve in the face of constant bombardment from modern culture.
But clothes are just the surface. They must be joined with the right mind set of the wearer. Style comes from within. It requires a strong, free mind in order that the individual can achieve the right attitude and so move calmly through the modern madness.
The 'also' collection was first introduced for the spring/summer 98 'new rage savage' collection.
COSPA VS beauty:beast
This is a separate collection which incorporates graphics and characters from the world of Japanese manga. It is produced in collaboration with COSPA Ltd, which holds the proprietary rights of the characters used in the collection.
40% of all publications purchased in Japan is in the form of manga. Manga is an integral part of Japanese culture. Manga and animation is not just entertainment for the Japanese, it is a philosophy. Animations and the characters within can become archetypes for the development of the nation's psyche. They are modern hero figures.
The beauty:beast concept of fashion is that it can also be symbolic. In working with COSPA we attempt to unite two symbolic forms of expression. More than ever, communication involves working across mediums. One single form of expression cannot on its own move things forward much. Forging the future requires symbiosis amongst the various art forms. This is the inspiration behind this particular collaboration.
The collection was first introduced as part of the autumn/winter 98 Dark Knight collection. The character Yocho Shirane from Go Nagai's 'Devil Man' was featured. For the spring/summer 99 hyper drive collection several characters were used including Sailor Moon and Gundam.
The COSPA collaboration also brought the introduction of a series of products only available from the UFO-catcher vending machines. The products had to be won by using the machines and could not be bought. The machines were redesigned by beauty:beast so that they fitted with the beauty:beast shop interiors Most or our outlets now have these machines.
