PT 3

CHRISTIAN DADA

Whilst Christian Dada's biography remains scarce, I was able to source a few facts from the design house's social media sites. Christian Dada is, in fact, a brand fronted by  Masanori Morikawa. Born in 1984, Morikawa appoints his endeavour into his fashion to his grandfather whose embroidery work, he says, was inspiring. 

Having worked as a personal assistant for Charles Anastasej, Morikawa became independent in 2007; launching the fashion label Livraison with a friend which he left later in 2009. It wasn't until 2010 that a collection was released under the brand Christian Dada. Dada's first womenswear collection came in the fall of 2011 which was debuted on the runway. Christian Dada's credits include a studded vest design for Lady Gaga in honour of the 2011 MTV AID. According to the brand's official site, 23 retailers stock the label and Morikawa's designs have been featured on Style.com, WWD, and upon celebrities such as Korean popstar G-Dragon and Lady Gaga during her 2012 'Born This Way Ball' tour.

The label dresses both men and women and explores themes of androgyny and bizarre aegis (breastplates, headpieces.) Morikawa told DazedDigital that he started to design womenswear and realised the algorithm was a key point in creating menswear which may bare reason for his choices of silhouette.

On his A/W11 collection: A slight light “Gleam”, noticing that there is a lot of confusion in this world, I wish this collection could be a slight light for everyone. I got inspiration from “Bushi”, Japanese fighters who survived through the Sengoku era. 

Much like with Tait, Dada is fully aware of the androgyny trend and utilises it at every opportunity. His menswear often bares flesh in shorter garments typically associated with the female gender and don't be surprised to see a beautiful male model with long hair donning a skirt or a cinched waist.

Very much a conceptual artist in the beginning, Dada has experimented with skulls, antlers and cage like structures to blur the boundaries between what is considered fine art and what is considered fashion. His muted colour choices make for timeless pieces which can be easily interpreted or added to the wardrobe of anyone who so desires to make a statement with their style of dressing. Silhouettes create figures less human than most designers choose to play around with and in that there is a sense both of power and animosity as though choosing to isolate oneself through a wardrobe for better or for worse.

I find myself interested in the brand mostly due to the likeness it possesses towards my own wardrobe, however Masanori does this in a more theatrical way, it almost feels experimental to me; clothes that are missing something. Perhaps it is the fabric choices. This is not a criticism by any means, I believe I am intrigued by the choices in the overall execution because it stimulates something in myself as to how I might have done it differently.