Reviews > Waiting for the Barbarians Julius 2010
Waiting for the Barbarians - Julius FW 2010
For those interested in avant-garde designers, the Japanese brand Julius is commonly associated to the dark and trash, post-punk and post-industrial aesthetic often caricatured under the “goth-ninja” nickname. No doubt about it: Mad-Max and Edward Scissorhands wear Julius.
Besides, this reference is partially laid claim to by the brand itself, as illustrated by the FW 2010 runway show being titled [ goth_ik ; ] and the accompanying invitations being complemented by articles in facsimile devoted to the various significations of the word “gothic”, from its pictorial and architectural origins to its contemporary uses, notably in the field of music. This impression was reinforced by the runway show itself, which was held in the industrial locale of the old Turenne garage located in le Marais, in skilfully orchestrated darkness punctured by the heavy and powerful sounds of industrial-noise music. Models had their faces hidden by a long lock of black hair and their jerky, frenzies movement reminded the audience of robots on acid, one of them even came down the runway restrained in a kind of straightjacket. Everything that gave Julius its reputation and defines its singular aesthetic can be found in this collection: dark outfits where black, that represents according to the designer “insanity hidden in obscurity”, dominates, boots in the characteristic Julius shape, strong showing of leathers and draped materials and even cargo pants with large pressure buttons, now presented in a slim leather version.
The runway show was articulated around two silhouettes dear to the designer: a sharp and adjusted silhouette on one side and a voluminous and draped one on the other side. Huge boots flaring over the knee, giving the wearer the appearance of a post-apocalyptic garbage collector were another highlight of the collection. They are in-line with a trend, also seen at Rick Owens and his elephant boots, that aims at incorporating in the male wardrobe boot shapes and heights previously exclusive to women’s collections.
Back to Gothic
Nevertheless it would be a mistake to reduce the work of Tatsuro Horikawa, who designs Julius, to its “goth-ninja” component. Moreover it would be discarding the singular indentity and history of the brand, as Julius was originally started in 2001 as an avant-garde art collective, the first collection having been released much later, in 2005. This artistic identity can be detected in the logo of the brand, as elliptical as it is enigmatic: _7. Is it a reference to the seventh month of the year, July? The number symbolizing cyclical totality and renewal? Or maybe an indirect homage to the Seventh seal by Bergman, with its representation of Death as a black garbed character? Or might it be related to Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai and its disgraced warriors? « The true Gothic culture began as a movement back to the natural order » ; More so than the previous Romanesque style from which it evolved ». In the show’s statement of intent, Tatsuro Hirikawa sees Gothic as an aesthetic that returns to the “natural order”, going backward from the Roman style, although it derived from it. This “return to nature” can be read in the Julius aesthetic, notably in the leather treatments. Julius leathers are not, like those of Rick Owens, magnified by their artificial aging nor wrinkled like those of Carol Christian Poell. No, Julius leathers preserve, in their irregularities of tint and material, the memory of its origins: a strip of animal hide before becoming a second skin. In addition, Tatsuro Horikawa inscribes the passage of time –natural element par excellence- and its offenses, in the construction of the garment, often ripped, sometimes torn. But it is also possible to recognise in certain materials he is fond of, gauzy and crystalline, a certain faraway and muffled echo of the flowery gothic and its diaphanous architecture.
“Post-punk”, “post-industrial”, “post-apocalyptic”, “post-nuclear”, etc., Julius is always “post-something”. The Julius aesthetic is surely “post-apocalyptic” as Japan is, at least symbolically, a country of survivors. Thus, in the manner of Butô, another post-war art, Japanese fashion appears to have to confront the perilous question of disaster, disappearance, annihilation –and of a possible rebirth. If, according to Adorno’s famous saying, there can be no poetry after Auschwitz, Julius asks the question of the kind of fashion that can exist after Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
To reduce Julius colour palette to black would be another mistake. . « The solemn Grace of God illuminated by a deep radiant light/Myriad pale saints arraigned in multiple pillars/We the humble sinners/The Devil ». His is an aesthetic of contrast, of colour in black, of light in darkness, of the opposition, once again Gothic, or white and black, Good and Evil, vice and virtue, ignorant of each other while engendering one another. Luciferean aesthetic of the angel of light swallowed in darkness. This tension, the most fascinating part of Tatsuro Horikawa's output, can be seen in the treatment of colour. If Julius is above all known for it blacks (and its symmetric: white and all shades of grey), colour is not absent from its palette; mauve, violet or even reds, the later having become one of Horikawa’s favourite as of late.
The presence of elements originating from a traditional and/or more feminine wardrobe helps counterbalance the warlike virility of certain outfits, without offering the viewer the possibility of separating the designer’s intent from his own westerner’s gaze. The presence of drape has already be underlined, additionally this collection proposed long panels attached at the waist acting as mock skirts.
Let us note, in closing, the appearance of beautiful, high-waisted, long jackets with rounded lapels bringing elegance that creates a stark contrast with the brutality of leather jackets. In this regard Julius tailored pieces are among those most deserving of interests offered by avant-garde creators who normally do not focus heavily on these types of garments.
Distributed globally, Julius is sadly not available in France. Let us hope the quality of Tatsuro Horikawa’s work and its importance in the sphere of fashion design will soon be properly acknowledged and that he will receive the attention he deserves.
Christian MICHEL
Translated by Maxime B. Discuss the review here
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