The Tamesis
It’s not often you hear screams of terror at a fashion show—even at the ugliest of shows. But Mikio Sakabe is good at getting reactions.
This season the designer held a show in a 90-year-old Japanese house that is said to be haunted and used as an escape room for horror fans. Each dimly lit room (10 in total) contains one or two models, their faces obscured by their hair and wearing Sakabe’s uncomfortably cute clothes. Some were huddled on the floor, trembling with fear, others were sitting facing the wall; others would occasionally bump into the wall, or hide in closets and then pop out (causing the aforementioned screams). A man lurks in a red-lit alcove in one room, brandishing a crowbar menacingly, his murderous grimace playing on a grainy TV.
Sakabe is an avid horror fan and has been thinking about how to combine Japanese horror films with fashion. “Even as an adult, going into a place like this — a room that’s a little weird — can easily transport you into that unique world, which I find interesting,” he said. “I think horror is the easiest way to enter a fantasy world.”
It’s hard to see the details in a dimly lit, windowless room, but it’s not about the clothes; Sakabe understands that people have less purchasing power for the clothes themselves than for the universe surrounding them. “Lately, I’ve been paying more attention to conveying the feeling of the world I create, rather than just showing the clothes. People who want to see the clothes can come to the showroom, and I think experiencing this unique world first will leave a more lasting impression,” he said. “If it’s too bright, the clothes will be visible, but the atmosphere will be completely lost.”
The designer can rely on his more eccentric impulses. His footwear brand Grounds is the commercial driver of his business—bubble-soled sneakers are a ubiquitous sight on streets from Tokyo to Shanghai. Plus, there’s a reason Sakabe has a cult following. The twisted shirts, ripped knits, over-the-shoulder blazers and deconstructed sailor-collared schoolgirl uniforms here are alluring, wearable, and weird enough to easily find their way into the lives of those who appreciate them. Like the horror movies that Sakabe is so fond of, his clothes provide a portal to another world.
