■Inspiration

"Disco dance" being the theme, mirror balls and go-go girls first came to mind but I strayed from the obvious imagery and decided to explore the effect of disco on Japanese culture. In the 70's, Japan was in a "Saturday Night Fever" frenzy much like the rest of the world. In the 80's and 90's, disco lived on in the Tokyo nightlife scene as girls in micro-minis danced waving big fans in the air. Today, the fan is remembered as an icon of Japanese disco era. I decided to take this disco glamour icon and set it against the classic imagery of a traditional Japanese fan gracefully fluttering in the hands of a dancing geisha girl - "Ohgi no Mai". Visually inspired by the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha", books on geishas, kimonos and Kutaniyaki pottery, I aimed to create a neoclassic look that represents the exquisite integration of flashy disco dance and classic Japanese beauty.