Akira Isogawa Excursion

We are lucky here in Berry to have our regular tutor Jennifer Corkish participating the the public programmes surrounding the famous Australian Fashion Designer Akira Isogawa’s exhibition at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.  Jennifer is assisting at the exhibition by conducting floor talks and demonstrating related textile techniques to visitors of the exhibition in the special ‘stitching space’.  Jennifer has offered to conduct a special floor talk and tour for Berry Quilt & Co. clients and class members. 

We will make a special group visit to the exhibition on Tuesday 9th March 2019. Meeting at the Powerhouse Museum’s Harris Street Entrance on Level 3 at 10.20am on the day. Jennifer will organise for us to enter the exhibition and will conduct a floor talk for us, letting us in on many of the special features of the exhibition that Jennifer has learned about in her role as stitching demonstrator and official exhibition guide. Lunch is available at either of the Powerhouse Cafes and Jennifer will also arrange for us to visit the special Lace Collection in small groups to see some of the treasures that are not always accessible on ordinary visits to the Museum. 

You will need to RSVP if you’d like to join us! We will need to know if you are eligible for a senior or concession discount.  Please phone the shop on ph 4464 3387 to RSVP.

Akira Isogawa is one of Australia’s most celebrated and successful fashion designers. Born in Kyoto in 1964, he moved to Australia at the age of 21 to study fashion at the Sydney Institute of Technology and opened his first boutique, in Sydney’s Woollahra, in 1993.

Akira has been a regular fixture at Australian Fashion Week since 1996 and began showing his collections to international buyers in Paris two years later.

Isogawa’s aesthetic draws heavily on traditional Japanese designs and techniques. He works almost exclusively in natural fabrics to create diaphanous, layered, intricately embellished ensembles that are instantly recognisable and highly coveted.

He devotes a great deal of his practice to textile design, using techniques such as shibori (a resist-dyeing process whereby fabric is bound, folded or twisted to create a pattern), origami (folding), embroidery, printing and hand painting.He also incorporates traditional Japanese apparel such as the kimono and the hakama into his collections, subtly transforming them for a contemporary clientele.

The exhibition at the Powerhouse is the first to explore his career of more than 25 years, revealing the background, impulses and cultural influences that have contributed to the making of a fashion original. The Exhibition features a wide range of garments and outfits, mostly drawn from Isogawa’s extensive archive, a selection of which he has generously donated to the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.