TYPE-VIII Kenta Umemoto project

The TYPE-VIII Kenta Umemoto project is a project in collaboration with up-and-coming photographer Kenta Umemoto.

Umemoto is a Paris-based photographer. Based on his unique use of color inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints and manga, he combines digital and manual techniques to create a unique method, masterfully utilizing light and shadow to pursue new photographic expression. In his representative work “FLŌRA,” he captures the forms of beautiful flowers full of vitality as if in the form of portrait photographs. His visual art, which seems to interweave the perspectives of photography and painting in the random beauty of natural objects, inspires new imagination in the viewer.

TYPE-VIII
Mr. Umemoto’s creative process and expressive works resonated with A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE, thus inspiring this project, with flowers being seen as a symbol of universal beauty. The design team reconstructed the visuals of the 2023 FLŌRA series as dresses and jumpsuits in bold compositions. A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE used their original Steam Stretch technique to create vertical and horizontal pleated shapes, which were positioned like patchwork, and then used a heat transfer process to press Mr. Umemoto’s visuals onto them. The delicate texture, just like the gossamer-type veins of flowers, mesh with the body when worn, creating a vibrant beauty.

Starting Sunday, September 1, ISSEY MIYAKE GINZA / 445’s CUBE and ISSEY MIYAKE SEMBA’s CREATION SPACE will boldly showcase dynamic visual arts featuring dresses and jumpsuits with striking contrasts of light and shadow, alongside the latest works from the “FLŌRA” series. Please click here for the details.

From Kenta Umemoto
“I want to bring out the potential that resides in each flower.” This is how I have approached photographing flowers. As an approach to flowers, I have not limited myself to the act of taking photographs, but from there I continue to explore a multilayered and complex view of flowers, utilizing both digital and analog techniques. It is a great pleasure for me to see my work, which has always been devoted to flowers, to resonate and become one with A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE’s “a piece of cloth” which is completed by the movement of each wearer. In this collaborative shoot, I looked back on the history of Issey Miyake, took inspiration from it, and put my heart into the possibilities of a single photograph to create a timeless visual, while attempting to capture the beauty that resides in each garment as if I were photographing a flower. I am very grateful to designer, Yoshiyuki Miyamae, and his team for being so open towards this project.

Kenta Umemoto
Kenta Umemoto is a Japanese photographer based in Paris. He first encountered photography through a lecture whilst a student at Meiji University, then later began taking still lifes for a traditional Japanese kimono company and Shiseido. His visual interests expand across beauty, flora, and landscapes. Taking inspiration from vivid colors or Japanese ukiyo-e and manga, he is now developing an original style at the intersection between photography and painting.