Fashion Trailblazer Kansai Yamamoto
The influential designer rose to fame after dressing David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust.
TOKYO — Kansai Yamamoto, the visionary fashion and costume designer who dressed David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, died July 21 at age 76, according to an Instagram post by his daughter, actress Mirai Yamamoto. She had previously shared information that he had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in February.
Yamamoto rose to prominence in the early Seventies when he debuted his first collection in London, and was subsequently chosen to dress Bowie’s alter ego on his Ziggy Stardust tour.
In the coming two decades, he also participated in fashion weeks in Tokyo, New York and Paris.
From the Nineties onward, he worked mainly in the entertainment field. His “super shows,” as he called them, combined elements of music, dance, acrobatics, traditional Japanese festivals and other spectacles, and were performed around the world, from Vietnam and India to Russia and Japan. The first such event, in Moscow’s Red Square in 1993, drew a crowd of 120,000.
Throughout his storied career, Yamamoto collaborated with various brands. Perhaps one of his most high-profile projects was his work with Louis Vuitton on a series of kabuki prints for the Parisian brand’s 2018 resort collection, which was shown in Japan.
“Kansai Yamamoto’s unique vision of the Japanese culture is mesmerizing,” said Nicolas Ghesquiere, artistic director of women’s collections at Vuitton. “The way he transcended Japanese codes and art de vivre to create something truly his own goes beyond fashion. I was very honored when Kansai accepted to collaborate with me for Louis Vuitton. He was a very kind and generous man.”
Yamamoto was known for his outlandish, avant- garde designs that often incorporated bright colors, loud patterns and exaggerated silhouettes. He had an equally large personality and aimed to spread the spirit of “genki,” the Japanese word meaning “energetic,” to the world.
Rick Owens, who name- checked Yamamoto for his fall 2020 collections and interpreted several of his outre styles, mused: “I wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t dressed Bowie?
“Their association just goes to prove the power and magic of having the right guy in the right one-leg bodysuit in the right place at the right time.”
“In my eyes, my father was not only the eclectic and energetic soul that the world knew him as, but someone who was also thoughtful, kind-hearted, and affectionate,” Yamamoto’s daughter wrote on Instagram. “He valued communication and showered me with love throughout my entire life.”
Mirai said her father died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, and she vowed to continue supporting his legacy.