The 2022 LVMH Prize: Ryunosukeokazaki

In only two seasons, Tokyo-based Ryunosuke Okazaki has captivated the fashion world, crafting magnificent sculptural compositions that blur the line between fashion and art. He imbues his couture with poignant expressions of nature, prayer, and the harmony between the two, but Okazaki doesn’t begin with such thematic intentionality. His practice is a pursuit of peace and serenity, and he's finding it in the act of creation itself.

Okazaki grew up in Hiroshima, which continues to inform his work and his attitude through its messages and symbols of peace. He moved to Tokyo right after high school, first studying graphic design despite his proclivity for fashion. "Going into fashion design was something I had been thinking about since I was in middle and high school," he says. "First, I studied art and design in college in order to study 'expression' broadly." Doing so helped him approach fashion through a different lens, allowing him to "explore the freedom and possibilities of fashion creation."

In 2021, Okazaki graduated from the MFA program at the Tokyo University of the Arts. His graduate collection "JomonJomon" immediately captured global attention and praise. Inspired by pottery from the Jomon era, produced in Japan between four and five thousand years ago, models stood on plinths with their bodies coiled in red, blue, and black recycled polyester in three-dimensional geometric shapes. It's easy to draw comparisons to the avant garde designers from decades past, notably Rei Kawakubo, whom Okazaki has cited as an influence, but his collections feel decidedly of the moment. "I think it is important to learn about the history of couture in fashion, of course. But more than that, I think it is always important to have new creativity," he says. "Artistic ideas, graphic design ideas, and a combination of these ideas will lead to a new expression of fashion."

His first runway collection, presented in Tokyo last year soon after his graduation, expanded on "JomonJomon," reworking some of the designs from the presentation and adding a range of new structural experiments. Three-dimensional-printed creations symmetrically swirled around the wearer, with the ends impossibly suspended in the air like ribbons blowing in the wind. Motivated by the harmony between humans and nature, he showed floral-inspired dresses that enveloped models in soft-meshed petals, each one with a visible outline. Nature goes hand-in-hand with prayer, though it is invoked spiritually rather than religiously. "I consistently use the concept of prayer. And I am always inspired by my surroundings," he says. His second collection, titled "Pray," added sheer and ombré finishes to the fabrications while evolving the silhouettes. Some sculptural pieces stayed close to the body, making for his most wearable designs yet; others burst away, as if wings had sprouted from his dresses.

Like many modernists, Okazaki's pieces come from experimentation rather than clearly defined ideas. The concept of automatism, a method of expression established by André Breton, the co-founder of Surrealism, informed his first collection. "My creative act is similar to this method," says Okazaki. "I create my work without design drawings. Creation is experimental, but the creative process always inspires me." Even though the results are elaborate, he knows when they’re fully realized. "When I myself am moved by the work I am creating, I stop and the work is complete. I believe that the act of creation itself is an act of prayer," he adds.

It's a rare way of working that seems incongruous with how quickly things are moving, especially the world of fashion, but Okazaki innately understands the value of taking time. "I don't think we necessarily have to respond to the speed of the world around us," he says. "It is important to create slowly. Some of my work is completed quickly, depending on the subject matter. For me, the novelty of a creation is more important than the time it takes to create it."

For more information, please visit Ryunosukeokazaki.com. See the full 2022 LVMH Prize portfolio here. Read this story and many more in print by ordering our fifth issue here.

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