#Michiko Kitamura

[elliot-amy]

Costumes designed by Michiko Kitamura for Ichi the Killer (2001)

[2001hz]

Tadanobu Asano as Kakihara, Ichi the Killer Directed By: Takashi Mike (2001)

[ruinedholograms]

Photo by Katsuo Hanzawa (1983)

Styling: Michiko Kitamura

Model: Hiromi Doi

[jinsei-pika-pika]

[garbanzo0]

The people of Instagram really liked this and I’m glad. I spent a lot of time on it but couldn’t wrap it up how I wanted.

[notokra]

[vampilllia]

michiko kitamura

[cosmicanger]

Michiko Kitamura costuming for Ichi The Killer

[elfoscuro]

Tadanobu Asano as Kakihara in:Ichi the Killer (2001)

by Takashi Miike

Costumes by Michiko Kitamura

Make-up by Yûichi Matsui

[unholy-bible]

ICHI THE KILLER, Takashi Tsukamoto: 2001. Styling: Michiko Kitamura

[jacksonjb]

Production Update: Costume Design and Dressing my Star

In preparation leading up to my music video, one of the aspects that I wanted to focus heavily on was costume design. Though perhaps sometimes overlooked, costume design in film is a significantly important facet in my eyes. It allows for insight into personality, background and circumstance of the character before they even utter a word, and because in the case of my music video that luxury will not be afforded, I felt I would have to rely heavily on visual appearance and character aesthetic in order to communicate key, though minor details about my film's character.

Above are all various iterations of costume ideas I had. I wanted to document each one to get an impression of how they would look on video, as well as to have a quick look-book reference for my on the day shooting, being able to pic out what my actor should wear as quick as possible.

Costume Analysis

As can be seen, most of the costumes I had in mind were of a darker palette, and hopefully would be considered to have a little more of an urban feel, since that was a facet of the mise-en-scene of my MV that I wanted to emphasize. This grittiness I hope evoked and mirrored the sounds of my song, Risingson, and gave an additional layer of synergy between my visuals and audio.

A few of my influences for my costume are as follows:

Yohji Yamamoto and his designs are a huge influence, his layering, masterful creation of silhouettes and overall black colour palette can be seen in some of my costume designs. I wanted a key focus on an all-black silhouette, given that my MV was shot in B&W, I felt it would accentuate and compliment the moodier cinematography.

Further inspirations include Marlon Brando, seen here on the set of One Eyed Jack's, particularly his jacket and jeans styling which, despite being used for a period piece, I wanted to replicate, feeling that it would seem quite at home in certain segments of my MV.

The film Trainspotting also had a significant impact on my costume, specifically Ewan McGregor's character, whose long shirts and tight jeans were quite an atmospheric plus.

The costume design and styling of Michiko Kitamura also were quite influential for my work. Though the direct parallels most likely cannot be seen in my own designs, her approach and visual flair certainly gave me some inspiration in terms of creativity and freedom in my costume designs.

Conclusion

All in all there were a number of stylistic influences that I took for the process of my costume design. It was one of the more fun parts of the whole prep for my MV! Considering at this stage there are still a few more shoots for my music video, there may even be a second part to my costume design process posts. I learnt a great deal about an area of art I was already interested in, and had a lot of fun making my own contributions to the fashion sphere, as well as having a personal and enjoyable meaning in doing so.

[jinsei-pika-pika]

【KINARI vol.20】 「language」

池松壮亮 & 奈緒

styling_Michiko Kitamura

photography_Masumi Ishida

[garbanzo0]

Took 3 months but I added a background to this because it never felt finished and I didn’t know how to finish it.

[notokra]

[2001hz]

Ichi The Killer: Costume Designed By: Michiko Kitamura (2001)