Beauty:Beast // 20471120

This Japanese fashion brand was founded in 1990 by the designer and master of the industry Takao Yamashita. The first collection was presented in 1991 along with the rise of the urban culture in the famous district of Harajuku, which catapulted it to its stardom; Currently, it is considered as a cult brand in the Japanese country. Like his peers, Yamashita is inspired by the punk culture of the United States. However, it moves away from the “careless” style of Takahashi (Undercover) and Miyashita (Number Nine); and approaches other topics such as religion, fairytales and iconography. Yamashita designs t-shirts, blouses, parkas and accessories that are really curious, an example, a giant safety pin from AW 98-99; always with a strong symbolic charge. He collaborates with brands such as Undercover or 20471120, which are part of the 2000 Japanese wardrobe.

Written by @gionavarre

There was very limited information about Beauty:Beast available online... until now. With our online and in-store pop-up event, we bring to you never-before-seen archived content from the Beauty:Beast label.

20471120
Spring Summer 1998: YIKES

In the advent of social media, fashion houses are staging increasingly elaborate and outrageous shows to vie for our collectively decreasing attention spans - think Virgil’s fantastical rainbow runways for LV, Undercover’s Kubrik storytelling and Moschino’s increasingly wacked out displays. But if we’re talking world’s craziest fashion runway, 20471120’s 1998 Spring Summer display might just take the cake. Entitled ‘YIKES’, the presentation kicks off with a very unusual animation depicting a showdown between Hyoma (the brand’s bald mascot) and a cyclops to the backing of Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt. Of course, the battle ends with both characters transforming into eggs, sunny-side-up, on someone’s breakfast plate. Moving stuff. On to the show…

On a rainy Tokyo night, a circling helicopter lands atop a hill to deploy a crew of rollerblading models decked out in Star Trek-esque 204. Skating down a giant ramp
alongside a synchronised explosion of fireworks, they reach a small jump launching them onto a runway lined by a legion of dedicated umbrella-holding fans, looking on in awe as the models stunt and pose in the rain. The skaters disperse, making way for a futuristic ensemble of exclusively red-toned rebels. Here we see panelled tees and dresses, sleeveless hoodies, red and pink pinstripe suiting, a crochet flower dress and the iconic Gundam ski-boots.

But things move on quickly, andvthey’re replaced by chunky wedgedvheels, cream tops with geometric shoulder pads, giant flower headpieces, floral patterned slacks and dresses, and of course, giant anthropomorphised dinosaurs. We catch a glimpse of 204’s joyously chaotic worldview as human models walk hand-in-hand with triceratops – and this is only the beginning.

A Japanese rickshaw appears, signalling the arrival of a full-blown circus. Fire twirlers, stilt-walkers, unicycle-riders, astronauts, the whole shebang. Matching couples come out, some wearing parasitic headpieces, others connected by umbilical scarves, but all holding hands. The triceratops returns as a knitted motif on V-neck sweaters worn by mini motorbike riders with oversized winged helmets. It’s an orgy of self-expression.

The motley crew recedes, bringing on Blue Swede’s ‘Hooked On A Feeling’ as six beige-suited, blue-shirted, bespectacled, and briefcase-equipped baddies march down the runway. Are they secret agents? Government officials? Nuclear scientists? Mormons? Before we can find out, they are tailed by another hexa-gang of dark suits. But these aren’t your average suits. Deformed in the way only 204 can, they feature corset waists, parasitic shoulder- growths, and fish-gilled vests. Instead of being sewn in a factory, these suits were grown in a lab.

In an interview with Your Fashion Archive’s Oliver Leone, Masahiro Nakagawa (one half of 204) explained the meaning behind 20471120: I had a dream that I would have as many people as possible on the November 20th of 2047 gathered together to say “Cheers” to life and the memories they made that would continue to eternally shine. I thought that there will be a world where diversity and individualism are advancing as fast as computers and mobile progress. I thought that individualism and expression would have become the mainstream of fashion. And when I thought of the brand name, I felt that the numbers of that year represented a future of diversity, individuality, and creativity. I think Masahiro used this show in 1998 to give us a glimpse of the future – or at least, HIS future. A world where self-expression reaches new heights, diversity is embraced, and individuality rejoiced universally. A world where dinosaurs wear flowers in their hair.

20471120
Hyoma Diffusion

20471120’s mascot, “Hyoma” was born from the Tokyo Recycle Project which has a diffusion line of himself and the characters surrounding him. The line consists of a multitude of pieces that are very cartoony, simple and vibrant that encapsulates the energy of the characters. Unlike the mainline counterpart this diffusion line does not bear the 20471120 tag but instead has their Hyoma log. In addition to this, the clothing is much more basic and streamlined, often having a graphic of Hyoma or the others to go along with it.Currently there are operations of the Hyoma line in Japan, Hong Kong, Macau and Shanghai. With the releases in Hong Kong, sometime in the mid 2000s to early 2010s, the line had a collaborative pop up with Mini Cream; another name under the Sanrio line that holds Hello Kitty and other cute characters. Unlike the regular Hyoma line, this specific event created garments that were extremely cute, oversized and very lively with bold color blocking and designs. This line up also entailed the adoption of the golden Hyoma tags that often had glitter in them. In the earlier productions of the Hyoma line, the characters were screen printed onto United Sports blanks which were well known for also sporting early Bape, Undercover and many other Japanese brands.

Recently in the Summer of 2020, Hyoma has released a collaboration between themselves and streetwear brand Roar Guns. The release put out t-shirts and hoodies with two varyings graphics of Hyoma as well as a multitude of colorways. The latest adaption of Hyoma no longer has Sex tattooed upon his face and now either has love or nothing at all in order to create a more family friendly image