When you see a fashion show your mind naturally focuses on the clothes and accessories on the runway. Makeup and hairstyles are other important aspects, but, quite often, they become secondary elements and in reviews they get neglected in favour of a description of the space where a show is taking place or a mention of the best-dressed celebrity sitting in the front row. Yet this rarely happens when the hairstyle in a show is created by Japanese-born, but New York-based Tomihiro Kono (河野富広).
A visionary master in the art of hairstyling, who developed an intriguing mix of traditional techniques combined with the most modern moods captured in the vibrant cities where he has lived, Tomihiro Kono has worked for different designers, including Jil Sander and Junya Watanabe.
Hairstyles designed by Tomihiro Kono go from geometrical foam sculptures to vinyl circles dynamically surrounding the heads of the models like futuristic halos. The models wearing them could be considered as punk Alice-like characters lost in space rather than in the proverbial Wonderland.
A few months ago Konomad Editions published the volume Head Prop: Studies 2013-2016 (distributed internationally by Idea Books), that could be described as a compendium of Tomihiro Kono's creations and an introduction to his modus operandi.
Photographs, sketches and photo grids in the volume show his passion for forms (such as circular shapes and lines), materials (ropes, wire mesh, felt, plastic bottles and rubber tubes...) and avant-garde experiments with hair.
The background reasearch included in the book proves that Tomihiro Kono's practice is suspended between mathematics, geometry and architecture, and sprinkled with childish glee.
The author of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, was a writer with a powerful imagination, but also a mathematician and logician; Tomihiro Kono, the father of modern Alice characters in a punk wonderland, is an artist and a hairstylist playing with mathematical and logical principles. You can bet we will soon find him collaborating with a major artist or architect.
Head Prop features a very intriguing documentation about your work: why did you decide to publish it only now and how long did it take you to compile all the material you had?
Tomihiro Kono: The reason why I decided to publish the materials in a book format is that, as first thing, I wanted to document what I had worked on and had kept as a record for myself. Secondly, I thought that revealing my secrets - that is the stages of my creative process - would have been inspiring for all sorts of people and not just for those ones working in the fashion industry. I also wanted to expand my personal boundaries: taking the book on the road through exhibitions means getting the chance to meet new people, and even find more creative possibilities and collaborations with individuals working in other industries. My partner Sayaka and I worked on this book design for a year, we did a lot of editing, adding texts as well, and I genuinely hope that Head Prop will be inspiring for readers even in ten or twenty years' time.
Some creative people do not like revealing their modus operandi or background researches, but you willingly take readers behind the scenes of your work, what prompted you to do it?
Tomihiro Kono: I used to hide my process and background researches because I thought that in that way I was protecting my originality. However, now I'm positive about sharing my background researches with my readers. I think that, to keep searching for a new style, I must release what I have done. This is my past archive anyway and I don't think I should hang on what I have done in the past too much! Besides, if I hadn't published these projects I would only remember them roughly and that would be a shame considering the time and effort that went into those creations. Last but not least, the book format allows me to share my creativity and protect my copyright, so releasing this volume at this stage of my career makes perfect sense to me.
In the book you show us many inspirations behind your projects – where do you usually go to get inspired - museums, libraries or the Internet? Or do you have a favourite artist/art movement or architect you often go back to for ideas?
Tomihiro Kono: My inspirations can be found in many differemt places, I go to museums and libraries, but not so often. I guess nowadays I use the Internet more and look at photography of artists' studios. I also get inspired by documentary films. Surrealism, Dada, Bauhaus and Fluxus - very energetic movements - are my favourite ones. The academic approach of Bauhaus was one of the inspirations when making my book.
The late Vidal Sassoon once told me in an interview that the Five-Point Geometric Cut was based on different ideas and concepts, including the Bauhaus and architecture. Your work clearly displays links with disciplines such as art and architecture, but also mathematics and geometry, can you tell us more about them in connection with your work?
Tomihiro Kono: I developed my career as a hairdresser and a hairstylist, so I didn't specialize in architecture or graphic design, but I learnt all the haircut techniques at the Vidal Sassoon salon. The way they worked on hair was mathematical and logical, so each hairstyle is perfectly calculated to be made. I learnt there that there is a hair diagram to design hairstyles and an accurate work was needed to create a complete hairstyle, for example you must take into consideration which angle you are pulling the hair strands out to create the form that you want. There are haircuts called "geometric cuts", so they consider hair as regulated by geometrical and graphic principles. I therefore think that these mathematical connections in my work come from my haircut training.
Which is your favourite section from the book and why?
Tomihiro Kono: The diagram of systematic process and artistic process at the beginning of the book. This was the first time I analyzed how I proceed with my work and found out that I have two different processes. The diagram tells the readers that my process of hair design is somehow connected with other disciplines - such as architecture, design and products.
What's the most unusual material you have used so far for your hair pieces?
Tomihiro Kono: I would say iron sand, I used it to design a moving beard. It was kind of exciting to experiment with it. I often try to express the concept of hair using other materials.
What do you like or dislike about contemporary fashion?
Tomihiro Kono: I like the fact that huge social media platforms such as Instagram allow us to show our work whenever we want, so there are more chances for young designers which is a positive side as we become our own producers in this way. At the same time, I dislike the fact that so many things look alike nowadays, they are on a same average level and it's harder to find more originality or high quality.
You did two exhibitions in Tokyo in August: what did they feature, images from your book or also your materials and sketches?
Tomihiro Kono: In "The Study of New Head Design" at Gallery Place by Method in Shibuya, I exhibited posters of different head prop design variations and some paper prototypes; in the other for the bookshop POST, I showcased real head props as an installation - they were not on mannequins but arranged in modern displays. It was good for me to have two places at once as one complemented the other and visitors got a complete vision of my work by checking out both spaces.
How did the exhibitions go?
Tomihiro Kono: They were very successful. A lot of people came over and we sold many books, more than expected. I met new people from different industries - graphic design, art direction, architecture, interior design and product designs. I was at the galleries as many days as possible to explain my work and the book and visitors were willing to stop, listen and understand what I was trying to achieve. It made me realise how much publishing the book has meant to me.
Do you already know for which designers you may be working in future?
Tomihiro Kono: There is a possibility I may work with Aganovich in the coming season.
What are your plans for the future, any chance to see an exhibition of your works in Europe as well?
Tomihiro Kono: I'd like to do an exhibition in Paris or in London, but I have no plans yet. In the meantime, I'm working on an event entitled "Light Is Calling" that will open at HACO (31 Grand St, Brooklyn) at the end of October in New York. This exhibit will be a collaborative effort between me and my partner, photographer and filmmaker Sayaka Maruyama, reunited under the moniker Neon O'Clock Works. It will focus on photography, short films, drawings, installations and books. Visitors will be able to see during this event some of our early box collages that we created in 2006, tackling themes such as achieving beauty through pain - think about the history of corsets. The boxes are connected with electric cables and light-up in the evening to create a sacred and solemn atmosphere. The energy locked in these boxes has been sleeping for around 10 years in our closet, so it is time to awake it again and pass it on to a new generation! You can all come and share the energy with us on the opening party night, on 31st October (6.00pm - 8.00pm).
All images in this post courtesy and copyright Tomihiro Kono.
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