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PICHULIK Fall 2017

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http://www.pichulik.com/shop/

#Ikebana #pichulikfall2017

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Pearl Divers I

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One of the lesser-known but fascinating parts of Japanese culture is that of the Ama pearl divers. Ama (海女 in Japanese), literally means ‘woman of the sea’ and is recorded as early as 750 in the oldest Japanese anthology of poetry, the Man’yoshu. These women specialised in freediving some 30 feet down into cold water wearing nothing more than a loincloth. Utilising special techniques to hold their breath for up to 2 minutes at a time, they would work for up to 4 hours a day in order to gather abalone, seaweed and other shellfish.

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Fosco Maraini “Ama” Japanese pearl divers

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ama - the amazing japanese pearl divers. photo by yoshiyuki iwase.

PICHULIK by Nadya, Fall 2017

The FW17 fashion collection #PichulikbyNadya a collaboration with designer

Nadya von Stein shows an eastern influence with the colours of Tibetan robes

and hand-woven fabrics by Mungo that use the same mustard, blue and red

colours. Mungo prints and patterns allow designer Nadya von Stein to

express the label’s African lineage while working with an eastern aesthetic

such as kimono-like sleeves and flowing lines.

The key silhouettes for the jewellery and clothing are oriental, asymmetric,

simple shapes taking inspiration from the principles of Ikebana that strive for

balance without force, beauty through simplicity and reducing materials to their

bare essence or jing.

#PichulikbyNadya #pichulikfall2017

PICHULIK Fall 2017

The materials selected for this season’s jewellery collection are inspired by the

East too. There is wood, an elemental force in eastern healing and in Ikebana.

Bronze and brass, non-ferrous metals, that attain a patina over time, thus

reflecting wabi-sabi, the Japanese concept that acknowledges that materials

change with time and celebrates imperfection. Rope, the PICHULIK brand

DNA, this time also signifies the rope that are the Ama divers’ lifelines.

#pichulikfall2017 #pichulikjewelery

PICHULIK LOOKS EAST WITH THEIR NEW COLLECTION

This collection is forensic in nature. I was looking through my great-grandmother and family matriarch Leonora’s trousseau and came across a photograph of a Japanese woman. On the back she had written 'mother'. This led me to delve further into the aesthetic practices of Japan," says Katherine Mary Pichulik of the inspiration that sparked her fall/winter 2017 collection.

The intricate designs echo the fine details of ikebana and the colours – a palette of pearl, brass and patinaed brass – evoke pearls nestling in oyster shells and kelp against wet black diving suits. She explains "I looked to Japan's Ama pearl divers, women who have been free-diving for over 2 000 years, holding their breath for minutes at a time and relying on no more than a rope tying them to a buoy. What fascinated me most, though, was the sense of community that existed among the women when the Ama was at their peak. Photographs exist from the 1930s that show women on the beach, covered in sand, happy and smiling. The risk, difficulty and hard work as well as the rewards, which included being afforded a certain status in a culture where women were not allowed to be independent of their fathers and husbands, bound them together.

In addition, their bravery and intuition are the same two characteristics PICHULIK most values in women and many cultures, including the Japanese, associate the sea with women. Ama translates as “women of the sea”. The jewellery and collections, Pichulik says, is therefore designed for "graceful, idiosyncratic women who are connected to the ebb and flow of her inner tides.

#pichulikfall2017 #pichulikinspiration