Incepted by Yukinori Maeda in 1997, Centre for Cosmic Wonder is a Japanese phenomenon exploring light and universal love through three projects: Cosmic Wonder (art project), Cosmic Wonder Light Source (fashion project) and Cosmic Wonder Free Press (book project in collaboration with Swiss publishing house Nieves). Central to Cosmic Wonder’s ethos is the work of Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, social thinker, architect and esotericist. Steiner defended Goethe’s theory that colours arise from the polarity of light and darkness and attempted to find a synthesis between science and transcendentalism, penning the term ‘spiritual science’. Steiner’s tropes – positivity, natural colours and light – are recurring motifs in Cosmic Wonder’s output, albeit a gold lame dress, a zine containing text stream reflections on light, or an exhibition of patchwork mandalas.
The fashion branch of the Cosmic Wonder trinity stems from Yukinora Maeda’s work as an architect. Maeda decided that ‘home’ is more aptly represented by clothing than by buildings; garments are the most intimate habitat in which people reside. Conceived in Osaka, a good 2-hour bullet train ride away from the garish billboards and recycled pop culture of Tokyo, Cosmic Wonder’s first collection avoided fashion trends. Debuting at Paris Fashion Week in 2000, it was distinctly architectural, characterised by volume and layers. It was also highly conceptual. Exploring Diaspora and nomadic lifestyles, the collection attempted to visit tribes of the world via the runway. White ninja uniforms of 16th century Japan, cut with dolman sleeves, were worn with baggy pants tapered down at the hem. A shawl trimmed with fur was embellished with prints from the Mongolian mountains.
Since then, Maeda has become renown for his loose silhouettes. Like wearable houses for mobile people, his dresses can be conceived as gauzy tents. Maeda’s fashion is architecture, just as it is art. Intent on blurring the boundaries between creative fields, in a series of installation works between 2002 and 2005 garments were made synonymous with décor. A Shadow Necessary for Windows, for example, sees dresses sewn to curtains. In To Sleep models wearing pyramid shaped gowns stand in open drawers with coat hangers strung around their necks. A giant inflated bra, resembling a cluster of cumulonimbus clouds, is suspended from the ceiling in Magic Village. In Forest Heights Lodge sleeping bags traverse a horizontal plane, are worn and walked away in.
Indeterminate wood and light
A light source is placed at the center of the space,
along with a deconstructed image of a house composed of
a single wood panel with a reflective silver film pasted to one side.
A strong spotlight directed at the mirror produces a house of light,
which is left for our imagination to inhabit.
A plywood grain is printed on the entire collection,
with reflective silver film pasted here and there so that, circling the house,
the models are clothed in reflections of wood and light.
Garments affixed with a ‘Cosmic Wonder Light Source’ label acquiesce to a more rigid definition of ‘clothing’. But, like the miscellany of Cosmic Wonder’s work, the pieces adhere to an idiosyncratic identity. Cosmic Wonder Light Source’s A/W 2010 collection borrows shapes and textures from plant forms and rock tessellations. There are pastel coloured dresses with batwing sleeves that look like flower petals. There are oversized hooded ponchos that look like treetops. The use of sequins and metallic thread mimics crystal light. The collection also re-imagines the humble tote bag, adding to it a detachable picnic mat, perfect for those with a predilection for spontaneous jaunts into the wilderness.
More recently, Cosmic Wonder launched The Solar Project, a didactic venture highlighting environmental preservation and sustainable manufacturing. The 100% organic cotton collection ranges from daily wear to dance wear, underwear, towels, and scarves. The entire production process is chemical-free: the cotton is grown free of petrochemical fertilizers and sprayed insecticides. Products are hand-dyed with natural herbs: akane, gardenia, pomegranate, mulberry leaf, rose bengal, catechu, and indigo.
Much like Maeda himself, Cosmic Wonder’s showrooms are inconspicuous. There are only two of them – one in Osaka, one in Tokyo – and if you’re not looking carefully, you could easily walk right past. These physical ‘centres for Cosmic Wonder’ are hyper minimalist, hybrid gallery-boutiques. Devoid of clutter, Cosmic Wonder’s wares are hidden behind wall panels and are opened to revelers deemed worthy. Window-less white cubes with cracked concrete floors, on occasion they play host to film screenings and exhibitions. Other times they omit sonic noise courtesy of Cosmic Wonder musician friends Boredoms, ooioo and Hisham Bharoocha.
The twin showrooms also stock the pretty parchment that comes off the Cosmic Wonder printing press. Cult compendiums made in collaboration with Nieves, they’re full of curated art, design and prose, and are accompanied by a fold out broadsheet poster. The work of Purple alumni Mark Borthwick and Laetitia Benat adorns many of the pages, so unsurprisingly the photography is in the French magazine’s trademark anti-fashion pictorial style. Writing varies: there are peace manifestos, articles explaining how to achieve a state of ‘White Wizardy’ through a process of ‘Supermeditation’, as well as Mike Mills’ musings on Guava Jam record sleeves.
Whilst worthy of space on the shelf of anyone who considers themselves bookish and/or visually erudite, these publications are most interesting when viewed as an extension of the Cosmic Wonder project. The self-reflexive dialogue between art, fashion and publishing makes Cosmic Wonder an intriguing brand with an acutely refined aesthetic. Through it all, Cosmic Wonder’s guileless position seems quite simple – and now, all I really want to do is drape myself in billowing fabric and read books in the sunshine.
Cosmic Wonder – www.cosmicwonder.com
