Viscose Journal #9
150 x 215 mm, 264 pages
Copenhagen / New York (English-language)
Irregular
Founding editor-in-chief: Jeppe Ugelvig
Guest editor: Tenko Nakajima Glenewinkel
Creative director: Filip Berg
Art director: stanza (Laura Silke)
Journal of fashion criticism Viscose returns with its long awaited ninth edition—a bookish sized issue encased in a richly printed tracing paper dust sleeve—entirely devoted to Japan, and guest edited by Japanese curator Tenko Nakajima Glenewinkel. The country seems an easy subject to address, but instead of jumping on the current Japan bandwagon, Viscose promises ‘the lesser known, deeply social histories of Japanese fashion production,’ eschewing the fetishisation of Japan by Western media, and delving into the cross-cultural exchange between Japanese and Western fashion from the 1980s onwards.
Inside, Yoshikatsu Yamato analyses the late 1990s to early 2000s Japanese magazine phenomenon of ‘reader models’—fans of magazines scouted as models to be featured inside—making comparisons with contemporary influencer culture; Eilidh Duffy delves into mythologised history of Soho’s designer boutique The Pineal Eye—founded by Yuko Yabiku, and revered as one of London’s first concept stores—exploring the art of shop curation, and fashion parallels between London and Japan; and Alex Esculapio travels to the Tokyo to meet designer Christopher Nemeth’s wife and two daughters—who’ve helmed his flagship store since his passing in 2010—to discuss the Birmingham–born designer’s move to Japan in 1986.
Plus several fashion editorials; and the essays are well illustrated with a plethora of archival imagery.