Kojima _ Problem of becoming a draft

Documentary Movie | Manbo Key: The shooting diary of Tokyo

Directed by Taro Okagawa

Essay | Cultural Memory: The Permanence of Private Talk

Bun and Anzai Shihoko

Fashion transcends boundaries such as nationality, gender, age, faith, and body, and is a means of visualizing the "personality" within an individual, and sometimes it is an armor to protect it. For one person, fashion is an expression of self-affirmation, and for another, it challenges existing values. No matter what purpose you wear, the act always contains a "narrative".
In recent years, inclusivity and diversity have been strongly advocated in the fashion world, and expressions that are not bound by conventional standards of beauty and gender frameworks have spread. The models on runway are no longer homogeneous “ideal images” but are transforming into beings that reflect the diverse realities of the world. In other words, we are asking each of us the question of how fashion should exist "for whom" and "how".

Many maisons and fashion brands have questioned us on complex topics such as war, inequality, environmental issues, and gender, based on cultural and social contexts of that era. For example, sometimes the above-mentioned contemporary challenges are symbolically represented on the runway stage, while bold slogans and messages are incorporated into the design, and clothing itself is used as a media for social discourse. These examples show that fashion is functioning as a critical practice.
Clothes do not silence—the number of bodies that wear it, there is a story to tell. In this way, fashion is not limited to superficial style issues, but also delicate and powerful approaches to fundamental questions such as how we live with others and how we talk about ourselves. Therefore, modern fashion is not just a decorative culture, it is a mirror of society, a place of dialogue, and a means of resistance.

At the same time, there are many maisons and fashion brands that value tradition and craftsmanship and continue to protect their skills and formalities. These maisons and brands are functioning as exhibitors of "immutable value" in the changing era. For example, the attitude of uncompromising hand-sewing and selecting materials can be said to be a quiet resistance to modern society, which emphasizes efficiency and speed. They ask people what is real, by presenting their unique aesthetics, spirituality, and cultural attitudes, instead of compromising the passage of time.
In this way, fashion swings between two poles: a fluid aspect that constantly changes in response to social and individual changes, and a permanent aspect that is passed down over time through technology and spirituality. We may unconsciously incorporate our values and ways of life in the clothes we choose every day.

In particular, LOEWE is one of the representative maisons of modern times, respecting tradition backed by craftsmanship and focusing on the protection and promotion of art and culture. Since 2022, we have continued to sponsor Tokyo Rainbow Pride, and have clearly demonstrated our proactive stance toward realizing diversity and inclusion. Through the visual and social media of fashion, LOEWE creates a place where everyone can affirm and congratulate themselves on living their own, while re-examine the established concepts of gender and sexuality. It shows the spirit of the Maison, which seeks to design a relationship with society beyond mere clothing.
LOEWE is also trying to visualize social voices as “works” through collaboration with artists and Acty Vist. These activities demonstrate that the Maison stands between tradition and innovation and plays a role as a cultural leader.

sunfish Key, an artist from Taiwan who became a collaborator of LOEWE, sublimates his close relationship with the subject and everyday scenes into an unrealistic and dreamy world. The scenery we are familiar with and the gestures of people are transformed into stories of another dimension by passing through his lens. His pop and happy colors create a unique atmosphere in which nostalgia and a sense of future live together, blurring the boundaries between reality and fantasy. There is a reinterpretation of the act of "seeing" which is not just a record. His work captures the corners of the city and the activities of people, but is always accompanied by visual provocations and swaying sensations.
sunfish held a solo exhibition in Taiwan in 2019, when same-sex marriage was first legalized in Asia, starting with a private videotape about his father's sex. The "narrative" about sex, which had been regarded as taboo, was opened to the outside through photography and video installations, providing a place to stimulate strong emotions and thoughts to viewers. This exhibition strongly highlighted the complex emotions lurking within individuals and the friction with social norms in the form of art. It can be said that it resonated deeply with the change in Taiwan society, especially in that it presents the courage of "talking" of private things as a mediator of the existence of a father and a new perspective that is born for the first time by being spoken.

At first glance, private narratives seem to be limited to personal memories and experiences. But when it is shared by others and excluded through the form of works, words, and physical expression, it transforms from merely “mine” to “us” memories. Such narratives have the function of picking up voices and experiences that tend to be placed in the periphery of history and establishing them in culture.
Fashion, photography, video, literature — in any expression mediates the individual's point of view and sense, and the contradictions of the air and society of the times continue to be recorded and reinterpreted. In other words, "private narrative" plays a role as a permanent memory device that records and keeps updating culture. Through these narratives, we touch forgotten emotions, stories, and voiceless voices, and sometimes re-examine our own memories and positions. And isn't that the act that connects culture to the future?

Profile — Manbo Key
Born in Taiwan in 1986. He became interested in photography while being involved in film art, and went to the road as a photographer. The creative process involves observing the intimate relationship between the photographer and the subject, as well as the sights of the subject and daily life. He is involved in fashion, advertising, and numerous projects such as Vogue Taiwan, GQ Taiwan, and marie claire. "Father's Shadow Band" held at Taipei City Museum of Art | In addition to Father’s Videotapes (2019), the company has expanded its activities to Hong Kong, Berlin and Tokyo.