Fashion Forecasts is a collage of photographs, drawings, irreverent fashion advice, and a comic essay on fashion as meditation. With tongue firmly in cheek, Sakugawa hilariously imagines what fashion will look like after culture and social politics further progress and evolve. Through gorgeously rendered illustrations, Sakugawa depicts absurdist fashion innovations, such as “armpit hair extension infinity scarves,” “a vision board cape,” “a bubble tea dress,” and “ombre tongues.” The fun and quirky book “Fashion Forecasts” by Yumi Sakugawa was released by Retrofit Comics on September 18th, and is going on our must list for holiday hostess gifts!
Originally presented as an installation and art zine at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s Crosslines: A Culture Lab, in May 2016, “Fashion Forecasts” is an exploration of intersectional, intergenerational, Asian American and Asian fashion design. Through playful, whimsical illustrations, the book proposes a future where fashion can be interactive, performative, and inclusive of all genders, ages, cultures and body types.
The book is a collection of different fashion forecasts, fashion advice, photographs from the original Smithsonian APA exhibition, and additional drawings that were not included in the original zine.
“Before being approached to collaborate with Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center for their pop-up culture lab in 2016, I had drawn a very informal series of futuristic fashion designs I dubbed “Fashion Forecasts” and posted them on my social media channels. They were my silly, tongue-in-cheek way of critiquing impossible fashion standards, while imagining an alternate reality where fashion could also be more fun, inclusive, and technologically innovative. I’m thrilled to see how much “Fashion Forecasts” has evolved,” Sakugawa said.
Yumi Sakugawa is an Ignatz Awards-nominated comic book artist and the author of “I Think I Am in Friend-Love With You,” “Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One with the Universe,” “There Is No Right Way to Meditate,” and “The Little Book of Life Hacks: How to Make Your Life Happier, Healthier, and More Beautiful.” She has also exhibited multimedia installations at the Japanese American National Museum and the Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building.