Chicago Tribune – February 4, 2016 – TOKYO – Two young Japanese knitwear designers have created original works with wonderful textures and great individuality, with one including elements from a brand-name towel in some of her pieces and the other pursuing three-dimensional expressions inspired by a “killer technique” from a manga.
A black sweater produced under Mari Odaka’s malamute brand bears a motif of roses with a nostalgic feel. “I got the idea for this work from a Feiler towel,” Odaka, 29, said. “My grandmother treasured the German brand towel and always handled it with great care.”
The roses depicted on the sweater may remind people of a pointillistic painting. Odaka used fluffy chenille yarn to re-create the distinctive towel-like texture.
Odaka says she has taken on the challenge of making knitwear that does not look knitted. A thin, nearly transparent summer knit suit made under the brand has a printed pattern based on marble.
“I wanted to give it a nice and cold feel, which is unusual in knitwear,” Odaka said, and she succeeded.
“Delicate colors and hues in nature, such as the colors of flowers and stones, can be depicted by using different yarns and different knitting methods,” she said. “I believe knitting has unlimited possibilities.”
Knitwear designed by Motohiro Tanji for his namesake brand has twisting, winding and undulating elements, such as those seen in manga and contemporary art. “I’m confident that I’ve created knitted fabrics nobody has seen before,” Tanji, 36, said.
Tanji studied at a knitwear fashion design school in Britain and set up his own brand in 2012. His design process always starts with experiments.
His work includes a dress with spiral motifs, which Tanji said he derived from a killer technique featured in the manga “Dragon Ball.” Another piece has sagging parts that may remind people of internal organs on a human anatomical chart.
Tanji’s innovative designs are given shape with an ordinary home-use knitting machine. His pieces have surprisingly rich “faces,” although they are knitted with yarn just in a single color.
For each fashion show, he designs more than 30 types of fabric, knitting by hand or with a machine, to make sweaters and dresses.
“The three-dimensional textures of knitted fabrics have an appeal you can’t achieve with woven fabrics,” Tanji said.