The essence of an emotion is not talkative, it is silence, a gesture, a moan, a look … for me, feelings are perceived but cannot be verbalized, much less trapped in a concept.
Obviously many disagree with my vision, immune to any form of horror vacui, I do not fear emptiness, neither space nor absence.
I have often felt unfairly judged and labeled for my highly intuitive, lonely and seemingly detached language.
But think of the Japanese language, a concentration of impenetrable ideograms that express an immense amount of concepts to be understood.
To Zen philosophy or Yoga which has its roots in the equally essential Sanskrit language Devanagri. And then there is the wabi-sabi which is even more inexplicable.
“A translation,” wrote Kakuzo Okakura, author of the classic “The Book of Tea” at best it can only be the reverse side of a brocade, there is all the texture, but not the subtlety of color or design.
It’s like explaining the taste of a piece of chocolate to someone who has never tasted it. You will be able to imagine its shape and color through our description but you would lose the most significant part: the flavor.
You think you have to say a kiss instead of giving a kiss.
There are concepts that words cannot express in my opinion.
For this reason, if you ask me to explain DakotaWear you will see me shake my head and hesitate exactly as a Japanese would do when you have asked to define Wabi-sabi.
Most of them will say they get the feeling but have a hard time explaining it clearly.
I find this impact disarming beauty.
The Wabi- sabi is the synapse that connects my soul to reality.
Everything in my life is connected to feelings, in relationships as well as in my work. I have always felt fashion rather than followed it. I am convinced that a dress is worn first with the personality and then with the body. This is because what you wear must make you feel a sensation. Whether it is positive or negative, it matters little, what matters is to reach acceptance.
It is the beauty of the crack of that famous Leonard Cohen quote:
“There is a crack in everything, and that’s where the light comes in.”
We must accept the cracks in our soul as unexceptionable traits of the masterpiece that we are. Looking at ourselves in a larger whole like that apparently neglected, inconspicuous detail, but which actually possesses all the grandeur that makes the whole a unique spectacle.
DakotaWear is my concept of style, the neglected detail, the beauty that transcends appearance.
My intent with this post is not to explain wabi-sabi to you but simply to try to convey the feeling of this Japanese concept through the style of DakotaWear.
Westerners tend to associate wabi-sabi with the beauty of imperfect things. An exact but insufficient definition.
Wabi sabi is not just a list of physical characteristics. Rather, it is a profound aesthetic consciousness that transcends appearance.
Moreover, if this were not the case, I would not be able to feel wabi-sabi as I define myself as an esthete. I do not hide behind the social conformity of the saying: the important thing is inner beauty. Beauty is awareness.
“Greatness” exists in the unknown and imperceptible details.
Beauty is an experience. A dynamic event that manifests itself between oneself and others.
We must accept the inevitable, that everything changes, that the cosmic order takes its course.
One of the Wabi-sabi principles that I applied to make this collection is that things evolve from or to nowhere.
The universe is in constant motion to or from the potential. An empty space vibrates with possibilities.
Just as a simple full skirt or a transparent tulle veil represent various opportunities. I conceived my clothes leaving a creative space in which to leave the mind free to move and think.
Wabi-sabi suggests intimacy. It pushes you to approach, touch, relate.
The ‘Kimi’ skirt is a clear example of this. Approaching and wearing it you will discover that it hides details that make it special. It can be worn with front or side lacing because it is seamless.
Just like the feeling of Wabi-sabi, the feeling of fashion can only be experienced by turning the attention from the outward to the inward appearance.
Try to look how you feel!
