彼の最新作はビューティーブランドCle de Peauのコスメティクス & スキンケアラインから登場する”Bal Masque”のヴィジュアルとパッケージデザイン。今の季節だと春物で出始めて、普通明るくてハッピーな物が沢山打ち出されるけど、この極寒い1月の日々だからダークでかっこいいのがよりぴったりだよね。リアルな話。だからこのムードはミーシャには持ってこいのコレクション。
It’s been so exciting to follow the career of Joji Kojima, the fine jewelry artist and art director who blew up right after art school graduation in Tokyo with a mask that ended up as a Lady Gaga album cover and followed it with some incredibly eye-catching 3D-printed pieces. His style is dark, mysterious, and exotic, with a taste for villains rather than heroines. Recently, he was commissioned by beauty brand Cle de Peau for a line of cosmetics and skin care, called “Bal Masque”. I know that the spring collections are hitting the shelves and everything should be bright and happy and yadda, yadda, but where I’m at, it’s still dark and cold so this moody collection hits the spot right now.
Joji Kojima makes jewelry that belongs in a museum of wonders. Alien treasures would abound, worth their weight to exist in the precious metals, jewels and bijoux he forges them from. His collections are so small and rare that he only comes out to present pieces a few times a year it seems, and it’s usually only in tokyo or other far flung locations in luxury hotel boutiques. So it was such a treat when it happened he was getting the entire facade of the ER Butler metal works store in the heart of SOHO, New York. The display has been up for a while now but it’s finishing on the 30th so anyone in NYC really must hurry to see it! It’s so stunning and eye catching that you may already stopped to stare if you’ve been in SOHO since August….
It’s time to warp at chic speed…to the past. November, to be exact, when Tokyo’s accessory-making prodigal son held the exhibition for his newest collection “INSECTA”. Joji rose to global status as a designer when Lady Gaga wore his mask on the cover for her Monster album. But rather than get ahead of himself Joji has been working away at his couture order-only collections since in his atelier (which he just moved from the quiet south of Tokyo to ritzy Ebisu. Fancy!). This newest collection follows his from last year which was inspired by wild animals “Utopia” though this time it’s insects.
Rather than get too literal, he took the outline of the shape of their exoskeletons, curves, claws and horns and made them into a series of impossibly perfectly polished armor rings. My little hand does not do them justice!
Then, for a more accessible choice, these are more affordable charms inspired by different butterflies that Joji makes by hand. He said that many of his customers end up wearing them with kimono. It sounds like a magical combination!
Joji Kojima: Born 1987 in California, U.S.A. He started learning to make accessories by himself at the age of 15 or so, and majored in graphic design, photography and typography in Tama Art University.While he was still in college, he attracted attention from different people in the world for contributing his works to one of LADY GAGA’s albums, and in 2010 established his own brand, JOJI KOJIMA. He has published his works at first-class select shops such as RESTIR in Tokyo, L’ECLAIREUR in Paris, and JOYCE in Hong Kong. He is also engaged in providing various artists in and around Japan with costumes and art directions.