It is easy to name Japanese designers who have contributed to the world fashion scene and who have communicated their aesthetic through experiments with technical textiles and new synthetics, use of unconventional raw materials and forms emphasizing traditional Japanese art whilst drawing influence from Western fashion.

This year marks the 100th anniversary since the birth of one of the most pioneering individuals in Japanese fashion, designer and tutor, Yasuko Ueda.

Yasuko Ueda founded the Ueda College of Fashion in Osaka, Japan and her life is synonymous with the transitions that Japanese fashion has undergone over the last century; from the functionality of the outfits worn during the pre-war era to the shift towards an emphasis on design and aesthetic in the post-war period.

Unusually for that era, Ueda understood acutely that clothing was as an ever-changing product of its socio-cultural environment.

By the late 40's she had become a leading figure in the Japanese fashion industry introducing artists and fashion designers to her school and modern tutorial methods. Yet despite her status in Japan in 1953 her long-lasting affair with fashion took a drastic turn as she decided to go to Paris to learn from the then great designer, Christian Dior.

The meeting with Dior was both inspiring and humbling to Ueda, she said that at the time she felt that "what I have been doing so far has not been design" and the house of Dior and the Ueda College of Fashion still maintain close links. The encounter with Dior spurred Ueda on to seek further knowledge and skills from the likes of Valenciaga and Givenchy. 

On her return to Japan she started to implement and introduce what she had learnt in Paris and especially the three dimensional effect on clothing which was a significant departure from the two dimensional clothing derived from the kimono and commonly worn outfits in Japan at that time.  
 
100 years on, the spirit of Ueda remains fundamental to the Ueda College of Fashion and has been passed down to successive generations of students.

On 30th November 2006, her students will hold their 13th international collection in London at the Old Truman Brewery, in collaboration with UCCA Rochester College and in association with the World Food Programme, the UN’s frontline agency in the fight against global hunger.

I look forward to seeing the work of the latest generation of Ueda College of Fashion and how the spirit of Yasuko Ueda lives on.

If you want to see for yourself, tickets are available from
http://www.seetickets.com/
see/category_events.asp
See http://www.fighthunger.org/en/
node/2401 for more information