Fashion in Focus: Yayoi Kusama's Shoes, High Heels, and Hats

Kusama’s Distinctive Techniques

Shoes have been a recurring motif throughout Kusama’s oeuvre, manifesting as sculptures, paintings and prints. These accessories are celebratory vehicles of self-expression, as well as speaking to Kusama’s entanglement with the fashion world, evidenced by her collaborations with Louis Vuitton.

Kusama’s Shoes are immediately recognisable by their use of repetitive motifs, particularly her iconic polka dots, which cover the surfaces of the shoes in a rhythmic and hypnotic manner. These patterns are not merely decorative, they are central to Kusama’s exploration of infinity and the dissolution of the self. The polka dots, which can be seen as a representation of infinity embodied by stars and atoms, create a sense of endless repetition, echoing the infinite nature of the universe. By covering shoes, a symbol of movement and progress, with these patterns, Kusama connects the personal journey of the individual with the larger, cosmic journey of existence. Each shoe in the collection, such as Shoe (1985) and Shoes (1984), is a microcosm of Kusama's artistic vision, merging the practical with the fantastical. The depiction of shoes as both art objects and functional items speaks to the fluid boundaries between the everyday and the extraordinary in Kusama’s work.

Collaborations With The Fashion World

Not confining fashion just to her artwork, Kusama first collaborated with Louis Vuitton in 2012, and released polka dot infused handbags that remain highly sought after by art and fashion enthusiasts alike. 2023 witnessed a second collaboration between the artist and ‘high-fashion’ label, resulting in a much larger collection, explicitly influenced by Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms and polka dots. The addition of shoes, including trainers, boots, loafers and high heels, is a perfect embodiment of Kusama’s unique style, where art meets function. The collection showcases her signature repetitive polka dots, and bold, contrasting colors that transform everyday objects into extraordinary works of art. Kusama’s shoes are more than just fashion items, they are symbols of movement, identity, and personal expression, reflecting the wearer's journey through life.

Kusama’s Polka Dots and Infinity Nets

In her High Heels series, Kusama utlises this iconic symbol of femininity to delve into the complexities of identity. She employs her iconic infinity nets and polka dots to create her High Heels, creating forms that are both surreal and familiar. The interplay between realism and abstraction in these works challenges traditional notions of beauty and power, the artist using her unique artistic style to reimagine the cultural narratives associated with these objects.

High Heels As Symbols Of Empowerment And Confinement

The series stands as a commentary on the dual nature of high heels, as symbols of both empowerment and confinement, while also critiquing the broader fashion industry’s impact on women. High heels have long been associated with femininity, allure, and power, but they also carry connotations of discomfort and restriction. In Kusama’s High Heels series, these conflicting ideas are brought to the forefront. By focusing on high heels, Kusama taps into the broader conversation about the expectations placed on women to conform to certain standards of beauty and behaviour.

The Symbolism Behind Kusama’s Hats

Hats do not only feature in Kusama’s own fashion, they appear within her collections as well. Kusama takes the hat, and reinterprets it through her distinctive artistic lens, using headwear as a metaphor for identity, covering, and transformation. Hats have long held cultural and historical significance in fashion, and throughout history they have been used to denote social status, profession, and gender. A hat can be a statement of personal style or a marker of conformity, a shield or a crown, that elevates one's presence. In Kusama’s Hats collection, these complex associations are both embraced and challenged, the hat becoming a symbol of transformation, a vehicle through which the self can be re-imagined and redefined.

Transforming Traditional Symbols

The collection features hats embellished with bows and adorned with her signature dots and patterns, such as Hat (1982), creating a visual continuity with her other works, while offering new insights into the concept of identity. Traditionally, hats have been used to reinforce societal norms, but by covering the hats in her signature dots, Kusama erases their individuality, turning them into objects that are part of a larger, infinite pattern. This act of covering reflects Kusama’s broader theme of self-obliteration, where the self is dissolved into the infinite. At the same time, the hats retain their symbolic power, suggesting that even in the act of covering, there is the potential for change and rebirth.

Kusama’s approach to hats subverts their conventional role, they become symbols of transformation. The repetitive patterns on the hats echo her broader themes of self-obliteration, where the individual becomes absorbed into the infinite. The Hats collection, like much of Kusama’s work, blurs the lines between fashion and art, using the language of fashion to explore deeper existential themes.

Kusama’s fashion-related collections underscore her profound influence on both the art and fashion worlds. By seamlessly blending her iconic motifs with everyday objects, Kusama challenges traditional boundaries, elevating fashion to a form of artistic expression that engages with themes of identity, self-obliteration, empowerment, and transformation. Her work in fashion is not merely decorative; it is a powerful extension of her artistic philosophy, where the infinite possibilities of self-expression and the dissolution of identity are explored through the lens of wearable art. Kusama’s legacy in fashion continues to inspire and redefine the relationship between art and style, leaving an indelible mark on both realms.