Wellness

SPIKE-EMBELLISHED WEARABLE ART

Courtesy of Maiko Takeda. Spiky Japanese Headgear.

Embellished bodies can lead to embellished minds. These beautiful designs and creations do this in spike -- and spades.

MAIKO TAKEDA

Embellishments transform a look. They can also transform a body. Take Maiko Takeda’s head and body pieces, featured here today.

Takeda straddles both fashion design and art. She chooses to present her collections via gallery exhibitions or performance art collaborations as opposed to traditional runway.

Atmospheric Reentry, is Takeda’s most recent collection. Headdresses and “jackets” are designed to both encase and expand the body. Texture is achieved by radiating spikes, tipped with bright color.

The spikes appear to be as sharp as needles, yet they feel like soft feathers. Aptly dubbed acupuncture tops, Takedo’s clothing turns the body into a striking architectural form.

Takeda is all about logic + geometry + space. But it is never what you would expect. What is simple seems complicated. What is ordered has an air of chaos.

Takeda created a spike embellished headdress design for Bjork to wear on her recent Biophilia tour. Bjork’s head was encased in a bubble of spikes -- appearing to explode with energy and light as she sang.

People who wear Takeda’s pieces transcend their human form. “Environmental influences such as shadow, wind and gravity, create an experience of wonder and bewilderment for the adorned,” says Takedo.

It is powerful to see how the artist evolved since her groundbreaking 2009-2010 Cinematography Collection, which beautifully transformed shadows into adornment.

Takeda has an impressive background. She studied Jewelry Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, and is currently enrolled in a Master’s program at the Royal Academy of Art in Belgium. Takedo has also designed for Issey Miyake and Philip Treacy.