WRAP YOURSELF IN A MASTERPIECE
THE SHAWLS OF KAZUMI YOSHIDA

The mythic artist/designer Kazumi Yoshida has just come out with a line of exclusive cashmere-and-silk shawls, which are based on the designs of his joyous paintings and drawings. The shawls are the latest incarnation of a gifted life of an artist whose expressions have taken many forms, including paintings, drawings, sculpture, assemblage, collage, décor, and textile design. Kazumi’s work encompasses the arc of timeless tradition reborn as edgy and avant-garde. Each shawl, which replicates a painting or drawing, is a wearable work of art that represents Kazumi’s witty originality and brilliant craftsmanship. The wearer is nourished visually and tactilely by a subtle synthesis of art reminiscent of the colorful geometrics of Sonia Delaunay or Leger, the boldness of Japanese Zen, and the delicacy of Italian Baroque. Each shawl is the product of Kazumi’s daring imagination, and evokes both fine and decorative arts imbued with a sensibility that revels in paradoxes: his is an insouciant yet sophisticated aesthetic that is at once regal and fun, high-end and amusing, simple and opulent, which beautifully translates into these cashmere shawls. The shawls are made of 70% cashmere and 30% silk, and are silkscreened in Italy. Whether linear monochrome or splashy abstraction, each shawl encapsulates the artist’s creative exuberance. Out of the vast visual vocabulary of his oeuvre, Kazumi has selected the images that flow and drape on the body particularly well. The shawls draped on the body “take on a life of their own.” Kazumi invites the wearer to collaborate with him in a flowing duet between fabric and figure. There is no greater luxury than the feeling of silk and cashmere; combined with the artist’s signature palette, the shawls are inspired feasts for the senses and the intellect.

Kazumi Yoshida, whose work is synonymous with nonpareil luxury and originality, has been creatively associated with such exclusive firms as Clarence House, Hermes, Mikimoto, and Etro. Quoting from the opulent book about his life and work, Clarence House: The Art of the Textile, Kazumi says, “Modern luxury is about filling your life with texture, comfort and beauty.” Wearing an airy heirloom shawl by Kazumi Yoshida promises to accomplish precisely that.

Exhibition
Rite of Spring
June 13 – August 27, 2019
Instagram: Carol Alt