Margaret Howell and Japan: A Lifelong Love Affair

by SHOWstudio on 15 May 2021

As part of the British brand's 50th anniversary celebrations, Margaret Howell have released a film evoking the designer's obsession with Japanese design.

As part of the British brand's 50th anniversary celebrations, Margaret Howell have released a film evoking the designer's obsession with Japanese design.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Margaret Howell, the classic British brand have released a film evoking the designer's lifelong love affair with Japan. Entitled Affinities – 50 Years of Design, the 3-minute film was made collaboratively by Howell and Emily Richardson, and will kick off the launch of the brand's anniversary celebrations in Japan this May.

Photograph of Margaret Howell by Miriam Renshaw (mid 1990s)

‘Simplicity in life is the guiding principle, though it may be the hardest thing to achieve,’ says Howell - an ethos that strikes a chord with the Japanese concept of 'Wabi-sabi.' The 1980s were a period of expansion for the brand, with a license signed with Washo Co Ltd to manufacture and sell Margaret Howell designs in Japan. Today, Margaret Howell's Japanese audience is of the utmost importance - the brand is now sold in over 120 outlets there.

Affinities – 50 Years of Design begins with an image of a young Howell visiting Japan in 1983; the first of many visits to a country where she would find much that crossed over with her own aesthetic. Charting Japanese landscapes filled with natural beauty, a pair of Geta shoes (a form of traditional Japanese footwear resembling flip-flops, with a flat wooden base), and an array of Howell's favourite Japanese objects, the film is both meditative and transient in tone.

Watch the film below:

Kenzo wearing Margaret Howell Corduroy Front Blouse
'Affinities – 50 Years of Design' by Margaret Howell and Emily Richardson

The Affinities film and archive display will be on view in at Daikanyama T-Site in Tokyo from 15-31 May, and in the ROHM Theatre in Kyoto from 4-13 June 2021.

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