In October 2019, NATSUMI ZAMA exhibited its new 2020 spring/summer collection at OZgallery Studio in Shibuya, Tokyo.
With the theme “symmetry,” this season’s collection features limited nine typical items including a shirt, two shirt dresses, a jumper dress, a skirt, a jacket, a pair of pants, and two coats. What makes the collection unique is that the left and right sides of the items are sold separately. They are designed to create one garment by combining the right and left sides that are made symmetrically as the theme suggests. The front and back also have the same design to give a consistent look. What strikes me is how items are purchased. Wearers can choose to buy an item as a whole or customize their own by combining, for example, a shirt for one side and a dress for the other. It is also okay to purchase only one side as a single piece. Wearers have broad options about how to buy clothes.
Unlike NATSUMI ZAMA’s former collections with the unique themes that are evocative of a picture book title as I mentioned in my previous report, this season’s theme is conceptual. In 2011, the designer Zama showcased in London “project : 2 → 3” putting together the front side with a flat piece of cloth. It looks as if the garment were floating in a large rectangle cloth. When worn, unintended drapes are created on the back side from the shoulders. While it was not put on the market, it was well-received internationally when showcased online. This took her to the launch of “project: 1-2-3,” the first collection exhibited in Japan, featuring items that expand in three different lengths from a top to a dress. The designer’s starting point was conceptual and experimental. With her 2020 spring/summer collection, why did she go back to where she had started? “As I was thinking how to suggest interesting clothes that my brand can uniquely offer, I thought I would release an experimental collection, which is my starting point,” said Zama. “Anyhow, that is what I prefer personally.”
NATSUMI ZAMA plans to keep introducing the right and left pieces separately as standard items. Adding more variety will allow wearers to explore more styles, which would create more excitement of dressing.
Brand: NATSUMI ZAMA
