Claudia Hill Fall/Winter 2000 Collection Presentation
New York, NY—February 2, 2000: This season, the unique vision of designer Claudia Hill was brought to life in film with the collaborative efforts of photographer Ariko Inaoka and multimedia visual artist Daisuke Nakayama. This unusual presentation format was received with great excitement and success as a part of the Paper Magazine Project, one of the most extraordinary phenomena to occur at the 7th on Sixth events at Bryant Park.
The film, entitled Fall Winter Collection, was a cinematic rendering of Claudia’s concepts for this season. In the film, the garments are, inspired by the gatherer women of the earliest and most colorful Nordic folk stories, collected together in a Dadaistic fashion. Ariko made the long but graceful leap into moving image to create the beautiful, color-saturated images of the presentation while Daisuke provided input during the shooting of the film, as well as creating the film’s final presentation, including the arrangement of the slide and sculptural installation that accompanied it.
Describing the designer’s efforts and the event as a whole, Kim Hastreiter, Editor-In-Chief of Paper Magazine, stated, “The truly creative people are not afraid of collaboration. They not afraid of who is next to them.” In that light, film and event were in perfect accord.
The film is available on video, CD-ROM and on the Internet at http://ClaudiaHill.com/fw2000/. It will also be shown again in Tokyo on March 7, 2000. For more information, please contact Shirt And Shoes Required at +1 (212) 334-9964 or at info@ClaudiaHill.com.
About Claudia Hill
German-born, Claudia Hill learned to sew at age eleven from her mother, a tailor from Prague. A natural eye for detail and a love for the work eventually led to an internship in Set Design at the Nuremberg State Theater and Opera. In 1993, Claudia came to New York to study at the New York Dance Intensive, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Parson’s School of Design. Since then, in addition to taking on costume design projects for both theater and film, she has created her own label and, in collaboration with Japanese photographer Ariko, The Number After 10. One of her designs for the Broadway production of Rent was choosen for the Smithonian Institute’s permanent collection.
Today, the Claudia Hill label embodies its creator’s vision: “For me, clothing is a three-dimensional surface. It’s more than just fabric. Making clothes is like building a house around the body. The clothes change the way you feel. They can make you feel strong, secure or transformed. And you notice the changes.”
About Ariko Inaoka
Kyoto-born photographer Ariko Inaoka’s super-saturated color work and unusual subject matter has already begun to bring her professional accolades. These include an editorial spread in the progressive Paris-based publication Purple Magazine, in-store photo installations for the new SOHO store Apartment (slated for opening in March 2000), as well as the most recent magazine advertisement for Tokyo street-fashion outfit Hysteric Glamour. Ariko began collaborating with fashion designer Claudia Hill on their joint T-shirt line The Number After 10 in 1998, and continues this collaborative effort with her debut in moving image as the director of photography in the Fall/Winter 2000 Collection presentation.
Ariko’s work developed outside the traditional academic curriculum at Parson’s School of Design, winning her praise at various student exhibitions, most notably the FUJI price of “Best Use of Color”, judged by Albert Watson. Upon her 1999 graduation with a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts for Photography, she was honored with an inclusion in Photo District News’ “Thirty Under Thirty”, a publication which celebrates emerging international talent. Ariko currently resides in New York City.
About Daisuke Nakayama
Japanese cultural envoy Daisuke Nakayama most recently became visible to the fashion audience with his contribution to the latest publication of Visionaire. However, his work as a multi-media visual artist has impressed international audiences for quite some time. Awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1997, Daisuke came to New York City. At that time his solo shows were well received in Berlin, New York and Tokyo. His participation in the Deitch Projects in 1997 and the Taipei Biennial in 1998 further developed his recognition as a prominent memeber of the international art forum. This year, his work will be celebrated in both the Kwangju Biennial in Korea, as well as the Lyon Biennial in France.
After attending the program for graphic design at Musashino Art University, Daisuke smoothly transited into the realm of Japanese fine arts in the early nineties. Engaged in such visceral environs, Daisuke’s work was welcomed with a great deal of critical acclaim, while his group Studio Shokudo became widely recognized as leaders of Tokyo’s new generation art scene.
