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developed an innovative and elegant style, characterized by clear geometric patterns. His studies of graphic design in Paris were a precious resource in facing difficult challenges: Moriguchi incorporated inventiveness and classic beauty to create Kimonos that do not exist anywhere else in the world. Through attentive mathematical transformations, he can visualise the movements of the figure wearing a kimono. This dynamic feeling, blending with an original sense of style, allowed him to preserve his father’s heritage, developing it in a contemporary way. In 2014, Mitsukoshi department store asked Moriguchi to create a special design to celebrate its 110th anniversary. Originally a seller of Kimonos, Mitsukoshi thus returned to its roots by focusing on the finest Japanese dyes and textiles. The selected design, called “Minori”, evokes ripe apples with a geometric pattern, and was also used on Mitsukoshi’s commemorative shopping bags. The word that best describes Moriguchi’s creations is “passion”. His most enjoyable moment in the process of design occurs when he feels that something is likely to be born. As Moriguchi explains: “The theme of my work is illusion. When geometric shapes change, many phenomena of illusion can happen. The progressive transformations of my patterns on fabrics, obtained with the Yuzen technique, have frequently been compared with the works of the graphic artist Mauritz Cornelis Escher. I am honoured to be associated to such a respected artist! The fundamental difference between us is that my designs are characterised by blank spaces: space itself has for me a lot of meaning. My geometric patterns do
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FEELING HE COULD NOT SURPASS HIS FATHER, HE CREATED HIS OWN STYLE
Top, first sketch of a kimono. Opposite page, in yuzen, it’s necessary to change the brush for each colour. Their size varies according to the design.
not come from inspiration, but from a choice of many possibilities, out of which I make my final selection. The operations involved in Yuzen-dyeing are so many and complex that the design plan has to be completed first: only in this way can we proceed perfectly. It can take between seven to ten years to pass from the idea to the design: a tremendous amount of time. And the production process too may take three to four months.” Moriguchi likes to convey to people the beauty of Yuzen through his work: “Yuzen on the Kimono combined with the beauty of the human body creates a wonderful effect. Like in stop-motion, the grace of ancient Greek sculpture can be transposed also in a variety of gestures. Look at Japanese dance, or at the etiquette of a tea ceremony: the design of the Kimono makes them more beautiful. Once again, I value the beauty of the human body, and the joy of living that converges in the Kimono: the thoughts of people who create it, of those who wear it, and of the many who see it. The Kimono realized with Yuzen technique holds a world of beauty that human beings embrace.” Moriguchi emphasizes the importance of preserving the traditional craft for the future. “It has to do with the concept of the circulation of nature. All the creations are made from natural materials; everything returns to ashes and soil. This is not recycling; it is a culture based on the coexistence with nature. This vision in rooted in traditional craft techniques: therefore, we need to transmit them to the future generations. A craft has to be the source of a new life, from birth. In the end, the work is the message: so the work shall tell the story of tradition.”
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