The next book “Did I meet you before? London Street Style From Fashion Week 2001-2018” provides a historical record of how show-goers dressed over the past two decades through the lens of London-based Japanese photographer Kumi Saito, who passed away in December 2020 from cancer. .
Published by Parsnips Archive, the book is edited by Mina Wakatski, Saito’s longtime friend and fashion journalist, who also runs the famous Japanese-style French patisserie Lanka on Finchley Road.
The book, which will be published on November 23, features more than 200 images from 111 fashion editors, buyers, models, bloggers and influencers, including Susie Lau, Sarah Harris, Rebecca Lowthorpe, Alexa Chung, Edie Campbell and Cara Delevingne, as well as as comments. of the journalists Saito worked with during that time.
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The book is named after the most common sentence Saito heard from showgoers when capturing them outside the show venues. It served as an effective icebreaker for her and her subjects.
Wakatski said that he spearheaded this project because Saito was one of his best friends and collaborators for more than 25 years.
“She left behind a huge file, but her husband said, ‘I don’t have anything to show your work to others. I want a photo book. So the journalists, graphic designers, and coordinators who have worked with her came together to produce a series of her archival photo books. This book is the first. Because she wanted to do a London Fashion Week street style photo show under this title,” she explained.
Regarded as the gatekeeper of all British fashion brands wishing to appear in Japanese media before the digital age, Wakatski spent the last 30 years covering shows and remembered almost every one of them vividly.
Kumi Saito
“So when I went through the tens of thousands of photos this time, the shows that took place at the venues came to life along with the people who appeared there. This book is a record of memories not only for Saito, but also for the journalists he associated with, as well as the fashion professionals featured in the book, and even the people who watched the shows at the time.” , said.
“I think it’s like an album for comrades who have been involved in London Fashion Week for the last 20 years, a record for the LFW community,” Wakatski added.
Born in Yamagata, a city in northern Japan, Saito studied photography at Tokyo’s Kuwasawa School of Design while working as an assistant to Minsei Tominaga and Studio Ebis. He moved to London in 1994 and began collaborating with Japanese magazines, fashion brands, department stores, and a wide range of media.
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