A note on: The costumes of Eiko Ishioka

Eiko Ishioka

Eiko Ishioka is a Japanese costume designer, born on July 12 1939 in Tôkyô. 

She is very famous for her designs and in 1992 Ishioka won an Academy Award for her costume design in Bram Stoker's Dracula. (Indeed, Mina's red dress is very famous)

(Some of) her designs for movies:

Mishima: A life in four chapters (1985)

Closet Land (1991)

Dracula (1992)

The Cell (2000)

The Fall (2006)

Teresa, el cuerpo de Cristo (2007)

Stage costumes:

Madamma Butterfly (1988)

The Ring of the Nibelung (1997)

Cirque du Solei: Varekai (2002)

and more...

Here are some selected pictures of her designs and you can easily find them on google ;P 

The Cell

Mina's dress in 'Dracula'

There are also different photobooks of Eiko Ishioka's designs, but they are quite expensive. You can search for them on Amazon. (Prices around $180 and $235+..)

I personally like Ishioka's work, because it has something of a 'gothic touch' and is really interesting. ;P I like the combination of Western dress (especially Victorian and Gothic style) and Japanese/Asian dress. Ishioka seems to like the colour red and uses it quite a lot. I think red x white or red x black is great for the eye. 

However, Ishioka isn't alone, other Japanese fashion and costume designers seem to have an interest in old western clothes and gothic style... For instance, Yohji Yamamoto, who loves the colour black, or Issey Miyake, Hanae Mori ... ;P

I just named the most famous Japanese designer, but there are lot more of great fashion designers in the land of the rising sun. Maybe next I'm, I'll give a note on the other designers, too. ;P