ARAB TIMES, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2016
NEWS/FEATURES
21
Fashion
New style for Japan
Okinawa looks to bag
a spot in high fashion
TOKYO, Oct 21, (AFP): Okinawa, the Japanese
archipelago home to thousands of US troops and
popular with scuba divers, is looking beyond its
beach resorts and World War II battle sites to bag
a spot in high fashion.
A two and a half hour flight from Tokyo and
closer to Taiwan, Okinawa couldn’t be more different from the Japanese capital, where the fashion
set reach for tights and tailored jackets on even a
balmy autumn day and look down their noses at
homespun “resort wear”.
But rather than bend to Tokyo’s will, two fashion houses on Okinawa have wider horizons: putting the sub-tropical island chain on a map of its
own.
Both directors jetted into
Tokyo for fashion week to
meet buyers and journalists,
but instead opted to stage
their runway shows on Okinawa Island — live streaming them online to reach a
wider audience.
“Fashion is not only for
people in Tokyo. That’s
Kakazu
what I want to prove,” Roberto Yoshida, creative director of Okinawamade,
tells AFP.
Holding shows in other parts of Japan, a country
made up of hundreds of inhabited islands with a
population of 127 million — around double that of
Britain — will make fashion week more interesting, he says.
The 38-year-old, the grandson of a Spanish
woman, who also designs biker gear for Honda
and runs a high-end line patronised by the likes of
US rocker Lenny Kravitz, is holding his catwalk
show on Saturday in an old elementary school
with Okinawan women starring as his models.
Dream
“I wanted to establish a brand that represents
Okinawa,” he says. “It has been my dream since
high school.”
The brand is officially menswear, but his appeal
is broader: 70 percent of his customers are young
women from their teens to 30s, he says, and 30
percent come from outside Japan, mostly China,
Taiwan and Hong Kong.
For fellow label Lequio it’s also about more
than the island’s blue skies, crystalline sea, hibiscus flowers: it’s about promoting the island’s
unique culture and history.
“We want to present original products that
can be made nowhere else,” director Yoshinari
Kakazu tells AFP.
Lequio’s spring/summer 2017 collection features a traditional Okinawa indigo dye and Kakazu wants to move into agriculture to support its
production with farming on the wane.
He shows a beautifully soft indigo T-shirt dyed
with intricate white patterns, which come from
a kimono his mother wears for doing traditional
dance.
Lequio also has a second line, Made In Occupied Japan, that fashions US military attire into
bags. The same cloth has been made into a hooded
sundress for spring/summer 2017.
Around 47,000 Americans troops are stationed
in Japan, more than half of them on Okinawa,
which was occupied for 27 years after World War
II.
While US culture has deeply influenced the island, rapes, assaults and hit-and-run accidents by
troops, their dependents and civilians have also
fanned controversy and protests.
Heritage
“We’re using this name ironically to turn negative heritage into a plus point,” says Kakazu.
But neither Kakazu nor Yoshida want to be
drawn on what they think of the bases, which also
provide local jobs. Both have American friends
and say US culture has been a huge influence.
Lequio’s show was held in the courtyard of an old
American officers’ mess in what Kakazu calls “the
Beverly Hills of Okinawa”. It was live streamed on
Monday, the first day of Tokyo Fashion Week.
For his AFP interview Yoshida wore his own
sweater printed with Mickey Mouse and Okinawa,
as well as wide-brimmed rapper-style cap.
He is inspired by French designer Hedi Slimane,
who in 2016 took Yves Saint Laurent’s runway
show to his home base in Los Angeles.
Yet unlike the unrelenting US drive towards
mass consumerism, he has his eye firmly on cultivating exclusivity.
Okinawamade sells online but has just one, tiny
Tokyo shop, which only opens at weekends and
where he says people queue for the limited chance
to snap up the clothes.
“A small brand that competes with major brands
is more interesting,” he said. “If I continue this way,
I hope someday Nike or Supreme might ask me to
collaborate in the future.”
Lequio also has big ambitions.
“Our clothes are luxurious resort wear with a
casual twist,” says designer Hiloki Deliva. “I want
people all over the world to wear them.”
❑
❑
❑
LONDON: Fashion designer Richard Nicoll has died
of a suspected heart attack, his family said. He was
39.
The family says the London-born designer died
early Friday in Australia.
Nicoll was raised in Perth, Australia, and studied at London’s Central Saint Martins’ College;
his 2002 graduate collection was purchased by
Dolce & Gabbana.
He later worked as creative director of Parisian
label Cerutti, designed under his own name, and
produced collections for Topshop and Fred Perry.
Nicoll’s modernist designs have been worn
by celebrities including Kylie Minogue, Keira
Knightley and Julianne Moore.
He had been due to start new roles with Adidas
and Woolmark.
In a statement, Nicoll’s family called him “one
of the quiet stars of fashion. He was a true gentleman, a wonderful friend and a much-loved son.”
This file photo taken on June 7, 2014 shows one of the lead singers from the
South African group Mafikizolo performing at the MTV Africa Awards held at the
International Convention Centre (ICC) in Durban. A burgeoning market in Africa
for homegrown contemporary music is sweeping the continent and driving a
creative boom in an industry otherwise battered by falling CD sales and rampant
piracy. Oct 22 and Oct 23, African talent will be celebrated in Johannesburg
at the annual MTV Africa awards set up in 2008 to recognise those ‘who have
made the most impact on African music and youth culture’. (AFP)
Music
Bruno Mars pop’s ultimate party boy
Jay Z, Madonna Hall nominees
In this Feb 22, 2015 file photo, Jay Z
arrives at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar
Party in Beverly Hills, California. Jay
Z, one of contemporary music’s most
celebrated lyricists and entertainers, is one of the nominees for the
2017 Songwriters Hall of Fame, and
if inducted he could become the first
rapper to enter the prestigious music
organization. The Songwriters Hall
gave The Associated Press the list of
nominees on Oct 20, a day ahead of
its official announcement. (AP)
Chauvire
Akon
Variety
PARIS: Prima ballerina Yvette Chauvire,
whose ethereal performances captivated
lovers of French classical ballet over nearly
four decades, has died aged 99.
The Paris Opera, which she joined as a
child prodigy when she was 14, announced
late Wednesday that Chauvire had died
overnight Tuesday, and expressed its sadness.
Chauvire, whose triumph as Giselle
revived audiences’ appreciation for 19thcentury romantic ballet, had retired in 1972.
Born April 22, 1917, in Paris, she was
admitted to the Paris Opera school aged 10,
and became a principal dancer at the Opera
Garnier 10 years later.
She was just 24 when the Ukrainian-born
choreographer Serge Lifar elevated her to
the top rank of etoile (“star”) following her
stunning performance as the mysterious
Babylonian goddess Istar. (AFP)
❑ ❑ ❑
MONROVIA, Liberia: SenegaleseAmerican hip-hop star Akon is endorsing
Liberia’s plan to outsource oversight of its
primary education system to a Kenya-based
for-profit company, a decision that some
local educators have denounced.
This West African nation six months ago
unveiled plans to allow Bridge International
Academies to write curricula and train
teachers. Some Liberian educators say this
small country of about 4 million should
focus on improving salaries and not cede
control of schools to outsiders.
But Liberian officials argue that radical
reforms are needed. In 2013, President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf described the education
system as “a mess” after all 25,000 students
failed the entrance exams for the University
of Liberia.
In an interview with The Associated Press
on Thursday, Akon said the outside partnership could be helpful, and he disagreed with
those who argue the government should be
responsible for everything.
“A lot of people don’t realize that it’s the
people that develop countries,” he said. “All
government does is to try to manage the
process, and in Africa we have a tendency
of thinking that the government does it all
for us.” The singer is partnering with Bridge
International Academies on a program that
promotes expanding electricity to increase
learning opportunities.
Akon said he became convinced of the
need to invest in power in Africa when, after
living for 20 years in the US, he traveled to
Senegal to find his grandmother still using
candles. (AP)
❑ ❑ ❑
NEW YORK, Oct 21, (Agencies):
Jay Z, one of contemporary music’s
most celebrated lyricists and entertainers, is one of the nominees for the
2017 Songwriters Hall of Fame, and
if inducted he would become the first
rapper to enter the prestigious music
organization.
Jay Z is the first rapper to be nominated for the Songwriters Hall of
Fame.
The Songwriters Hall gave The
Associated Press the list of nominees
Thursday, a day ahead of its official
announcement. Other nominees that
could be inducted next year are George
Michael, Madonna, Bryan Adams,
Vince Gill, Babyface, Max Martin,
Kool & the Gang and more.
Eligible members can vote for three
non-performing songwriters and two
performing songwriters until Dec
16. Five songwriters, or songwriting
groups, will be officially inducted at a
gala in New York on June 15, 2017.
Other performing nominees include
Cat Stevens, Sly Stone, Chicago, Gloria Estefan, Jeff Lynne and David
Gates. Non-performing nominees are
Kenny Nolan, Randy Goodrum, Tony
Macaulay, William “Mickey” Stevenson, Allee Willis, Maury Yeston, Paul
Overstreet and the songwriting duos
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Dan
Penn and Spooner Oldham, and Steve
Barri and the late P.F. Sloan, who died
last year.
Songwriters are eligible for induction after writing hit songs for at least
20 years. Jay Z, who released his debut
album, “Reasonable Doubt” in 1996,
has launched multiple hits in the last
two decades, from “Big Pimpin’” to
“Empire State of Mind.”
❑ ❑ ❑
While the world was busy dancing
to Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” at
the top of 2015, the singer was partying in the studio and creating his latest
groovy hit.
The Grammy-winning star said in an
interview with The Associated Press
he wrote “24K Magic” around the time
“Uptown Funk” topped the Billboard
Hot 100 chart last year. “24K Magic”
debuted at No. 5 on the Hot 100 chart
this week.
The new party anthem was launched
with a music video to match its celebratory flavor. So far, it’s racked up
SEATTLE : Kanye West is lamenting that
his kids have yet to play with the daughter
of his friend, mentor and collaborator Jay Z.
Fan video from West’s show in Seattle
more than 46 million views on YouTube.
“You want to kick the door down
instead of politely say, ‘Hey guys,
check this out.’ So I think that was the
whole objective — to make sure the
visual came with the song so people
can know, ‘When we wrote this, this is
what we felt like,’” Mars said. “When
I’m performing, this is what I want you
to feel like. Hopefully everyone’s partying with us.”
Mars performed the song, his 13th
Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 chart, on
“Saturday Night Live” last weekend.
The tune comes after the massive success of “Uptown Funk” with Mark
Ronson, which recently hit RIAA
diamond status and won two Grammy
Awards this year, including record of
the year.
“24K Magic” is the first single — or
invitation to the party as Mars puts it —
for his third album of the same name,
to be released Nov 18. Two days later,
he’ll open the 2016 American Music
Awards with a live performance.
❑ ❑ ❑
Radiohead will headline next
year’s Glastonbury festival, organisers
announced on Thursday, after the British rock band’s logo appeared on grass
at the countryside venue.
“YES! Radiohead will be back
at Worthy Farm and we really can’t
wait,” Emily Eavis, co-organiser of
the festival, wrote on Instagram.
Her post was accompanied by a photo of Radiohead’s “angry bear” logo,
painted in white at the festival site in
Somerset, southwest England.
The English experimental rockers
will headline Glastonbury’s Pyramid
Stage on June 23, 2017, a Friday slot
taken this year by British group Muse.
British artists dominated the headline slots in 2016 with singer Adele
and band Coldplay topping the Pyramid Stage line-up on the following two
nights.
Radiohead hinted at their Glastonbury gig recently when guitarist Ed
O’Brien said he’d be keen to appear at
the festival again.
“To be asked to play at Glastonbury
again would be magic,” he told BBC
6 Music.
❑ ❑ ❑
Prince’s label on Friday announced
it will release the first posthumous
on Wednesday night shows the rapper complaining about business disputes with Jay
Z before telling the crowd: “Our kids ain’t
never even played together.”
West’s daughter with Kim Kardashian,
music from the pop icon including
an entire second album to accompany
“Purple Rain.”
The announcement, made a week after a tribute concert in Prince’s native
Minnesota meant to offer closure after
his sudden death on April 21, comes as
his estate steadily moves forward on a
business plan for his vast holdings.
Warner Brothers Records said it
would next month issue a 40-track
greatest hits collection, “Prince
4Ever,” with an attached 12-page book
of photographs.
While consisting largely of the funk
maestro’s best-known hits from early
and mid-career, “Prince 4Ever” will
also feature the unreleased 1982 track
“Moonbeam Levels.”
Long known to fans, with Elvis
Costello even covering it, “Moonbeam
Levels” was never officially released.
It would have appeared on “Rave Unto
The Joy Fantastic,” an unfinished album Prince discarded in the late 1980s.
Potentially more exciting for fans,
Warner said in a statement it would next
year reissue Prince’s 1984 classic work
“Purple Rain” next year and that it would
be accompanied by “a second album of
previously unreleased material.”
❑ ❑ ❑
Keep a Child Alive’s 13th annual
Black Ball drew a star-studded crowd
consisting of actors, musicians, and
humanitarians to Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Wednesday night.
The charity event, which brought
80s activism to life with neon-colored
street art, was both an auction and
benefit concert to raise awareness and
funding to eradicate AIDS in adults,
and more specifically, children.
“We still have a long way to go.
AIDS is the number one killer of adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said
KCA CEO Peter Twyman. “Black
Ball” is a call to action ... calling out
people to help end the epidemic once
and for all.”
KCA co-founder and the night’s
host, Alicia Keys, told Variety that the
ball serves as a reminder of why the organization began. When it first started
in 2004 it really showed me a whole
new world, bigger than the world that
I knew. I just knew that if everyone
could see what I saw they would also
feel moved to want to change it.
North, is 3. Jay Z’s daughter with Beyonce,
Blue Ivy, is 4. West and Kardashian also
have a 10-month-old son, Saint.
West worked as a producer for Jay Z’s
Roc-A-Fella records before becoming a rap
superstar.
The two collaborated on a 2011 hit
album, “Watch the Throne”. (AP)
❑ ❑ ❑
NEW YORK: Lady Gaga returned to the
Dutch DJ Martin Garrix performs at the Heineken Music Hall after being revealed
as the winner of the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs Poll 2016, during the Amsterdam
Dance Event (ADE) in Amsterdam on Oct 19, becoming the youngest ever No.1
DJ. (AFP)
New York City bar where she performed
years ago as an unsigned act on the eve of
her new album’s release, singing rock and
pop songs for an audience including Robert
De Niro, Helen Mirren, die-hard fans and
music industry insiders.
Gaga sang tracks from “Joanne”, released
Friday, at The Bitter End late Thursday,
going from piano to guitar. She was backed
by a band that included Mark Ronson,
who produced the new album, and Hillary
Lindsey, who co-wrote with Gaga.
The Grammy winner, who grew up in
New York City, performed songs like “Million Reasons” and “Joanne”, an homage to
her aunt who died at 19 from lupus before
Gaga was born (Joanne is the singer’s middle name). After the performance inside the
bar, Gaga performed outside for her feverish
fans. She sang two more songs from the top
of the bar’s roof, even sitting down on the
edge of the roof to belt out the lyrics as fans
and residents cheered her on. (AP)