LIBERTINE DUNE NO.14 — RICK OWENS X ISHIUCHI MIYAKO — 2017

DECEMBER 2017

DEAR MIYAKO — IT’S AN HONOR TO HAVE MY FATHER’S MEMORY CAPTURED AND QUIETLY CELEBRATED BY YOUR DISCERNING EYE. I HAVE SENT YOU KIMONOS HE KEPT FROM HIS TIME IN JAPAN DURING WORLD WAR II WHEN HE WAS STATIONED THERE AS PART OF THE AMERICAN ARMED FORCES. I REMEMBER THESE KIMONOS FROM MY CHILDHOOD AS SOUVENIRS HE KEPT IN AN ARMY TRUNK IN THE BACK OF A CLOSET. FOR MANY YEARS HE WOULD TAKE THE PADDED BURGUNDY AND BEIGE STRIPED WINTER KIMONO OUT ON CHRISTMAS MORNING TO WEAR AS WE LISTENED TO HANDEL’S MESSIAH ON THE FLOOR OF HIS MUSIC ROOM AS HE DRANK JAPANESE TEA.

HE WAS A STERN AND DISAPPROVING FIGURE, IMPATIENT WITH MY LACK OF INTELLECTUAL RESOURCES TO BE ABLE TO ENGAGE IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND MORAL DEBATING HE WANTED ME TO PARTICIPATE IN WITH HIM. I FELT HIS DISAPPOINTMENT KEENLY AND HE DIDN’T MAKE ANY EFFORT TO DISGUISE IT. HE COULD BE SOFTLY AND AMUSINGLY SARDONIC AND HAD A SINCERE KINDNESS IN HIM BUT NOT MUCH OF A FILTER WHEN IT CAME TO HIS QUIET MISANTHROPY.

HE WAS BORN DURING THE AMERICAN DEPRESSION WITH HIS MOTHER DYING EARLY ON AND AN ALCOHOLIC FATHER WHO SENT HIM TO AN ORPHANAGE AT AN EARLY AGE. HE WAS VERY CONTEMPTFUL OF EXTRAVAGANCE AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT, ESPECIALLY IN AN EFFEMINATE SON.

THAT’S WHY THE KIMONOS, HAND-PAINTED CALLIGRAPHIC SCROLLS, AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF HIMSELF DRESSED IN KIMONOS IN BEAUTIFUL GARDENS KEPT IN THIS MILITARY TRUNK WERE ALWAYS A SOURCE OF MYSTERY AND ALLURE TO ME — THEY WERE HINTS OF A TIME IN HIS EARLY ADULTHOOD WHEN HE HAD ALLOWED HIMSELF A MOMENT OF EXOTICISM AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT.

THIS ISN’T TO SAY HE SUPPRESSED HIS AESTHETIC SENSITIVITY — HE HAD A LIBRARY OF CLASSICAL LITERATURE AND CLASSICAL MUSIC THAT FILLED MY CHILDHOOD… PROUST, MALLARMÉ, MAETERLINCK… WAGNER, SCHOENBERG, BARTÓK… THESE ARTISTS REPLACED THE TV HE WOULDN’T ALLOW IN THE HOUSE. AN ARRANGEMENT I RESENTED AT THE TIME BUT OF COURSE AM COMPLETELY GRATEFUL FOR NOW ALTHOUGH I DON’T KNOW IF I WOULD HAVE HAD THE STRENGTH TO IMPLEMENT IF I HAD HAD CHILDREN…

I RECOGNIZE HOW HE INSTILLED RIGOR AND DISCIPLINE IN MY LIFE — THE FOUNDATION OF EVERYTHING I DO AND A GREAT SOURCE OF PERSONAL SATISFACTION. HE TAUGHT ME FEAR AND SHAME, BUT WOULD I HAVE HAD ANYTHING TO REACT TO OTHERWISE? HE HAD VERY UNKIND OPINIONS ON RACE, WOMEN, AND HOMOSEXUALITY THAT I WAS ABLE TO BALANCE OUT IN MY OWN WAY IN MY OWN PERSONAL AESTHETIC EXPRESSION, WHICH INFURIATED HIM.

IN LATER YEARS, AFTER I HAD BECOME RECOGNIZED AS A DESIGNER IN PARIS, HE MADE A GREAT EFFORT TO ENJOY IT WITH ME BUT ULTIMATELY DISENGAGED BECAUSE OF MY UNWILLINGNESS TO DEBATE MY MORALITY, OR LACK OF IT FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE. WE DIDN’T SPEAK FOR 3 YEARS UNTIL IT WAS TIME FOR HIM TO GO AND WE HAD A QUIET PHONE GOODBYE. WE JUST COULDN’T HELP HAVING A SENTIMENTAL AFFECTION FOR EACH OTHER BUT FUNDAMENTALLY WE WERE MORTAL ENEMIES.

DEAREST RICK,

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR LETTER. I WAS RATHER SURPRISED AT HOW INTENSE YOUR LETTER WAS; GOING INTO THE DETAILS OF YOUR PERSONAL HISTORY. I HAD ALMOST NOTHING TO DO WITH FASHION INDUSTRY TILL NOW, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU I GOT TO KNOW YOUR NAME ONLY RECENTLY. I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THE CONCEPT OF MY PHOTOGRAPHY WOULDN’T GO WITH FASHION, OR VICE VERSA. HOWEVER, I WAS TOUCHED AND MOTIVATED WHEN I FOUND OUT THAT YOUR FATHER LEFT KIMONOS AS HIS MEMENTO.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE, THE RELATIONSHIP YOU AND YOUR FATHER HAD MUST’VE AFFECTED YOUR WAY OF LIFE. I’VE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE RELATIONSHIP MATERIALIZES AS THESE KIMONOS, WHICH ALSO EMBODY THE HISTORY BETWEEN THE U.S. AND JAPAN, AS WELL AS VERY PERSONAL ONE.

IN THE CONTEXT OF ETERNAL STREAM OF TIME, THESE KIMONOS (SOME SUMMER KIMONOS, RO AND SHA, WINTER ONE DOTERA), BEING RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF ME, NOT IN THE PAST, ARE NOW MAKING A NEW RELATIONSHIP BEYOND THE TIME. WHAT YOUR FATHER HAD LEFT HAS TURNED INTO A SILK THREAD CONNECTING YOU AND ME NOW.

I STUDIED TEXTILES WHEN I WAS IN ART SCHOOL. I HAVE SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE IN KIMONOS AS I USED TO DYE THREAD, WEAVE CLOTH… I STILL HAVE THE LOOM FROM BACK THEN.

I FELT THE QUALITY OF YOUR WORK WAS EXTREMELY HIGH, BRILLIANTLY REFLECTING YOUR CONSISTENT THOUGHT. IN MY EYES, YOUR BODY OF WORK SEEMS TO EXPRESS BOTH ASPECTS OF SORROW AND DELIGHT, FREEDOM AND NON-FREEDOM, POSSESSION AND NON-POSSESSION, TOLERANCE AND INTOLERANCE.

I AM TRULY GRATEFUL THAT THE VERY FIRST FASHION SHOOT I DID WAS RICK OWENS.