Summer under the sea
A deep-sea dive in a coral reef may not be in the cards for your vacation this year, but you can always bring the ocean to you with clothing from Tsumori Chisato.
Tsumori's latest collection offers a glimpse of the colorful aquatic kingdom sans any saltwater chafing. Pieces from the collection evoke fishy themes with coral, shells, sakana and air bubbles scattered through patchwork netting and undulating, wavelike ruffles. Her transparent photorealistic prints have a sheen that emits a phosphorescent glow much like those mysterious creatures who dwell leagues under the sea.
The Tsumori Chisato design studio was established in 1990 and is part of the A-Net group, a big fish in the Issey Miyake aquarium. Tsumori refined her skills as chief designer of Issey Sports for seven years before beginning her own line, which now shows on-schedule in the Paris fashion week. The designer is known for the quirky, childlike textile prints that she's been using in her creations since she began her line in 1990. Thankfully, she stops short of introducing a Disneyesque chorus of singing crustaceans and bubbly mermaids, reigning her patterns for a slightly more mature look.