DEW Magazine #34 Movies Issue – 9th Anniversary Edition: In this issue, we aim to stimulate our readers into further discussion on the Oscar Wilde’s statement about life and artform. Would you agree if the statement is rephrased as: Art imitates life, life imitates art, and film imitates everything in between?
The Imitation Game.
Oscar Wilde once said, “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life”. In movies, however, the imitation can be equally true both ways. The really entertaining movies have relatable stories and characters we identify with. Of course movies are usually exaggerated tales, but the right casting of teams and themes are what make a movie great. To some extent, this is when life imitates the art of movie-making: the choices we made will determine the results we create.
In fashion, just like in movies, the casting of designers can make or break a fashion house. This is especially trues if the house embodies a staunch, time-honoured brand DNA, and “wrong casting” is inevitable when the newly appointed head designer’s trademarks departed too far from the brand’s core characteristics. Another example would be when a new designer fails to deliver a fresh new approach to ensure the prolonged success of a well-known brand and instead just create collections that are aesthetically too similar to his predecessor’s; as if this new designer is casted as the main actor in the reboot of a successful movie and chose to perform in the exact same way as the actor of the original movie.
In this issue, we feature Nana Komatsu, Ayaka Miyoshi, and Koharu Sugawara, who possess abilities to remain true to themselves while being cast for a wide variety of jobs and characters. Their imitation game is never half-heartedly done; their art is an exemplary imitation rather than a controversial innovation. Hopefully we can learn from them how art imitates life, life imitates art, and happiness imitates everything in between.
CREDITS
Cover story Koharu Sugawara in JNBY
Photography Teruo Horikoshi
Styling Marie Higuchi
Hair Satomi Suzuki
Make-up Kie Kiyohara