It’s a given for any collection to have a title and a story upon which the designer builds their pieces. However, such is not the case for this collection as Ashi forsakes his tradition of titles and stories, to give the spotlight to designs inspired by his visit to the Parisian flea markets where he collected the puzzle pieces of fragmented memories, lost trinkets, forgotten tapestries to put together the ensemble of this nameless collection.
The forsaking of concepts and titles lets us simply observe and absorb the story of the craft itself, which often gets lost. This Collection echoes across cobblestones, embodying a spectral illusion of a woman, a marbled statue with a painted face, draped in fabrics that echo through a fog of cities no more, ancient civilizations now frayed, and once glorious cultures, carrying a sense of decay yet woven together in structured yet subtle elegance.
Ashi abandoned familiar techniques in favor of reinvention, exceeding expectations with new materials, hybrid crafts, distressed textures, and raw forms. Exploring the fragility, body, and the intimate relationship between skin and fabric. At the heart of the collection is an emphasis on sculptural corsetry.
Each piece draws inspiration and meaning from textile artworks of Louise Bourgeois to explore the themes of skin, transparency and transformation through usage of natural materials such as wood, stone, lace, and mother of pearl in intricate works of feather, embroideries made of mother of pearl fragments, armor like corset frames, hand carved wooden corsets, mermaid silhouettes and metallic thread work. Ashi’s eye for constructionism also produced stunning tailored jackets, the very unique embroidered coatdress, and an asymmetrical pantsuit with a spiraling fringe trim.
One of the standout pieces of the collection was a wooden sculptural look made by placing it on a corset, which was molded directly onto the model’s body. Two monkeys, arm in arm, were carved into the wood. The whole look was then painted to resemble the veins and tones of a bark.
The collection’s couture work simply refused to be categorized and interpreted. It held a certain familiarity and a classical element to it, whilst also maintaining originality. Through this exacted yet frayed, full yet fragmented collection, Ashi reminded us of the aspect of fashion that can transcend time.
