2010 Flora Street
Dallas, TX 75201
USA
In the late 1960s, Mary Baskett was curator of prints at the Cincinnati Museum of Art. A graduate of Wellesley College with a Master’s degree in East Asian art history from the University of Hawaii, Baskett was already well-traveled throughout South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Hong Kong. In pursuit of the work of contemporary printmakers, she began travelling to Japan where she found intriguing avant-garde fashion. She began avidly collecting and wearing these clothes, particularly those of Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and Rei Kawakubo, then little-known outside of Japan. In the 1970s and 1980s, Miyake, Yamamoto, and Kawakubo shocked the fashion world with their post-modern “anti-fashion” garments characterized by asymmetry, raw edges, unconventional construction, oversized proportions, and monochromatic palettes. While maintaining many differences, these artists often reference elements of traditional Japanese dress in their designs, merging conventional features with avant-garde concepts.