Makiko Sugawa’s drawings got me wishing she would go ahead and realize her design potential already. After all, fashionistas everywhere are going to need remarkable undies to wear with looks like this this and this. Fortunately there are some gorgeous pieces out there that have me salivating.
Right now, I am most attracted to lingerie that is architectural with clean lines. Think Lady Gaga hotpants, or Madonna’s cone-boobs: edgier pieces with mesh and strategically-placed stays. However, since most women out there do not want to be wearing the equivalent of scaffolding, the structure is tempered with lace or diaphanous silks.
clockwise, from top: Damaris Ophelia bra, a sheer bra that makes up for what it lacks in support in pure sexiness, $160; La Perla satin and tulle paneled corset, $325; Rosy Sublime demi-bra with nude satin cups and black mesh is perfect for under a t-shirt, $69; Calvin Klein Perfectly Fit Mystique thong, $30; Kiki de Montparnasse cashmere thigh-highs with contrasting back seam, $195; The Lake and Stars Truce silk romper with suspender straps and mini-pocket, $252; Damaris Bourbons high-waisted knickers with corset detail, $164; multiple stays contrasted with delicate lace make this La Perla Indomitable bra a favorite, $280. All sketches from the Chantal Thomass Ah!Follante collection.
Categories: fashion · lingerie
Tagged: fashion, lingerie, makiko sugawa, style
Makiko Sugawa is a Japanese artist whose incredibly detailed line drawings are one of my current obsessions. For some reason, I can’t find that much information about her on the web (when I typed her name into wiki, I got did you mean: making sugar?). From what I gather, she was born in the seventies and didn’t start drawing until age 27. Many of the women she draws have prosthetic limbs, like the artist herself, or gears for legs. Her provocative work explores common stereotypes, mechanical beauties, and whether something artificial can be sexy.
In nico magazine, Sugawa says, “In private time, we remove not only makeup of the face, but also makeup of the heart. So then, the real desires and instincts of a woman are released… I want to express the precise beauty of eroticism. I want to catch the skin and its essentials, which are not shown usually. We can see the essentials of eroticism by peeping into a defenseless person’s private life.”
Appreciation of beauty is part of Japanese culture. Sugawa’s drawings have the pop quality of the postmodern superflat art of artists like Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara, which works the shallowness of the modern consumer culture. The beauty of Sugawa’s subjects isn’t broken by their mechanical limbs; they are more bionic women, less helpless invalids. These drawings have a carnival sideshow quality to them, with their weird props and awkward positioning. Many of her drawings draw direct inspiration from the photographs of Helmut Newton. The experience is voyeuristic, erotic, and vaguely exploitative. We are peeping in on their private time, as it were. Yet part of me feels like the girls on the page want you to watch; many of them (the ones that aren’t blindfolded, anyway) are staring indifferently, playfully, or even boldly into the audience.
In addition to her book, Woman’s Private Time, Makiko Sugawa has had four solo exhibitions: un*dress, Lace Queen (a play on the Japanese “race queen,” or a race car model), Ladies Time, and New*Feminine. This art is inspiring me, among other things, to find amazing lingerie. Visit the artist’s website here.
all artwork by Makiko Sugawa
Categories: art
Tagged: art, helmut newton, japan, lingerie, makiko sugawa
