[ad_1]
What can be said about NIGO that hasn’t been said a million times before? The designer/director/collector/collaborator/pioneer can be described by so many adjectives that it is pointless to simply refer to him as anything other than NIGO. However, you can now add “award winning” to his list of titles.
On September 19th, NIGO bagged perhaps Japan’s biggest prize in fashion, the Mainichi Fashion Grand Prix. In the year Presented by The Mainichi Shimbun (literally “daily newspaper”), which has been running for 100 years since 2022, the Mainichi Fashion Grand Prix is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and what better way than to crown the king?
The NGO took home the 2022 Mainichi Fashion Grand Prix grand prize, given to a designer, manager or executive for the year who “achieves the most outstanding achievements in fashion,” according to the Mainichi Fashion Grand Prix’s Japanese website.
The awards ceremony is technically part of Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo, although that calendar officially ends on September 3, and has been around since 1983, with the grand prize going to the likes of COMME des GARōNS founder Rei Kawakubo, the late Issei Miyake and the like. ZUCCa designer Akira Onozuka.
Anyway, NIGO was at the 2022 ceremony to receive the award in person, accepting the “Newcomer” award from fellow winners Fumi Tanaka, a womenswear designer. Stylist Michiko Kitamura, whose resume includes stints with Kawakubo and the likes of Ichi killer; Bicycle brand “Denim de Mirai ～ Denim Project ～” (yes, that’s the full name) and Japanese singer Yumi Matsutoya.
Nigo Virgil Abloh, who won a major award for his work as creative director of KENZO, gushed in his acceptance speech, recalling his decades-old streetwear roots and comparing them to the luxury realms he now roams.
It’s amazing to think of NIGO’s career trajectory, from starting Harajuku boutiques with UNDERCOVER’s Jun Takahashi and following around Hiroshi Fujiwara to modeling pioneering luxury label Kenzo and being published to lead campaigns for companies as big as Levi’s.
The synthetic brand is still huge, and NIGO’s extensive vintage workwear collection is the subject of a new exhibition at Tokyo’s Bunka Museum, while the first KENZO collection has been released into stores following a series of high-profile drops.
Suffice it to say, 30 years later, NIGO is much more than a “streetwear” designer. This Meinichi Fashion Award is a true testament to established designers by Japanese fashion kingmakers such as Tomo Koizumi and ANREALAGE’s Kunihiko Morinaga.
[ad_2]
Source link
