Can Fashion be Art?The last time we were here, we got into this topic a touch. Musing on the art of the everyday, lunchbox arrangements, handwriting and the such.

But today we’d like to get a little more literal.

ULTRA recently took a big trip to Paris for fashion week, where we exhibited at one of the larger tradeshows Tranoi. Our first tradeshow experience, it was certainly an interesting one, the media covered glittering openings and parties just a facet, it was tough work figuring out our place, how to showcase who we were to who we wanted to, and just getting the hang of the large and busy fashion world.

But through the tough work we met a lot of inspiration and certainly a great dose of designers that quite easily blend the colours of fashion and art into a well crafted showcase.Where we were largely impressed was at a show within the Tranoi tradeshow brought together by METI (the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) entitled ‘Tokyo Eye’.

METI brought together a collection of nine designers of which goodies e.m.a. and DRESSEDUNDRESSED were a part of. But big highlights for us were these two…

First up it was Joji Kojima, a jewelery designer who’s ‘brand ethos’ is bluntly ‘Art meets Fashion’. It takes a look at his work to see the craftsmanship, or the unattainability that often likes to be an argument behind the essense of ‘high’ art. His pieces evoke a serious sense of a dramatic time of an otherworldly renaissance. And there’s often something plainly odd about them. He’s plated it up for Lady Gaga and has been commissioned to create collars for well to do Chinese Crested dogs. Unattainability indeed.

Then there was BALMUNG, a touch more on the everyday wearable side BALMUNG creates large angular pieces, that shimmer and envelop a little like the latter scene of Akira. Carried at Hong Kong’s biggie JOYCE, BALMUNG has collections entitled ‘FREAKKKKK’ and ‘grayshit’ amogst milder ones such as his 2008 debut entitled ‘reborn’.

Perhaps one day MATRADE will curate such a show?

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