When you hear the phrase Japanese leather, you probably think of soft and covetable jackets, such as the ones by BLACKMEANS currently in our Generation Tokyo Pop-Up at OCNY. But leather craftsmanship also has a long and varied history, as LEATHER JAPAN, an exhibition which opened Tuesday at THOMAS ERBEN GALLERY, reveals. Objects in the show spanned from unconventional food containers like a banana case to a serrated hammock by HENDER SCHEME to tanned mats favored by seventeenth century Samurai.
The event was organized by the Japan Leather Goods Development Committee, who asked nine fashion designers––including BLACKMEANS and SASQUATCHFABRIX., the creators of our pop-up––and ten contemporary artists to contribute pieces. These works were accompanied by artifacts from the history of leather in Japan, such as an "Akurikawa” fur gifted to the imperial court during the Yamato period. An 1879 woodblock print showed factory workers crafting leather shoes in the Meiji period, when techniques were first developed making leather goods available on a mass scale.
According to the Leather Goods Development Committee, the material is having a Meiji-style renaissance in Japan because it is eco-friendly. Unlike synthetic fabrics, the argument goes, leather is natural and biodegradable particularly when it's made using traditional methods. Of course, many of the finished objects the artists created were far from traditional: take my personal favorites, a leather flu mask and straitjacket by SASQUATCHfabrix., which I imagine were created to be worn by a very fashionable psych ward patient. More wearable items included the studded blackmeans motorcycle jackets and a row of soft creamy suede jackets by the brands Needles and CLASS.
Perhaps the biggest indicator of the evening's success was how many times the objects on display were knocked over by the large crowds of guests moving through the gallery space. The occasional sound of cracking Plexiglas cases followed by some blushing faces and a ghastly silence topped off the show. Good thing most everything on display was made to be durable.
Photos by Matthew Kelly | Leather Japan runs through February 22
Thomas Erben Gallery
526 West 26th Street 4th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Map![]()
A BLACKMEANS jacket
![]()
A blackmeans jacket
![]()
A leather banana case by blackmeans
![]()
Yujiro Komatsu of blackmeans![]()
The event was organized by the Japan Leather Goods Development Committee, who asked nine fashion designers––including BLACKMEANS and SASQUATCHFABRIX., the creators of our pop-up––and ten contemporary artists to contribute pieces. These works were accompanied by artifacts from the history of leather in Japan, such as an "Akurikawa” fur gifted to the imperial court during the Yamato period. An 1879 woodblock print showed factory workers crafting leather shoes in the Meiji period, when techniques were first developed making leather goods available on a mass scale.
According to the Leather Goods Development Committee, the material is having a Meiji-style renaissance in Japan because it is eco-friendly. Unlike synthetic fabrics, the argument goes, leather is natural and biodegradable particularly when it's made using traditional methods. Of course, many of the finished objects the artists created were far from traditional: take my personal favorites, a leather flu mask and straitjacket by SASQUATCHfabrix., which I imagine were created to be worn by a very fashionable psych ward patient. More wearable items included the studded blackmeans motorcycle jackets and a row of soft creamy suede jackets by the brands Needles and CLASS.
Perhaps the biggest indicator of the evening's success was how many times the objects on display were knocked over by the large crowds of guests moving through the gallery space. The occasional sound of cracking Plexiglas cases followed by some blushing faces and a ghastly silence topped off the show. Good thing most everything on display was made to be durable.
Photos by Matthew Kelly | Leather Japan runs through February 22
Thomas Erben Gallery
526 West 26th Street 4th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Map
A BLACKMEANS jacket
A blackmeans jacket
A leather banana case by blackmeans
Yujiro Komatsu of blackmeans