The attraction to Everlasting Sprout’s a/w 2007-8 “Charm” collection is due as much to the idea behind the looks as to the skillfully worked knitwear itself. Keiichi Muramatsu and Noriko Seki explain that what inspired them for this collection, “…was a series of pictures taken by Eugène Atget. The pictures capture the old streets of Paris, but more importantly the light that has been enclosed in the pictures gave us a lot of inspiration. The main idea is the scene in which one man falls in love with one girl. The girl is so beautiful that she is shining, even in a black and white picture.”

Everlasting Sprout, a/w 2007-8 “Charm” collection

Some favorites from Everlasting Sprout’s “Charm” collection, shown at Japan Fashion Week:

detail

“We wanted to make it a little decadent (the Eugène Atget photos give us a decadent feeling). We wet the runway to express a scene in which the sunshine glows from between the clouds on the streets after rain. The sparkling chandelier above symbolizes the girl in the eye of the man.”

chandelier over the Everlasting Sprout runway

Eugène Atget, Le Dome, boulevard Montparnasse June, 1925

Eugène Atget, Paris street scene

Eugène Atget, Hotel de Roquelaure, 1905

Eugène Atget, detail fontaine de la tête de Boeuf

I told Muramatsu and Seki that the above first three looks are my absolute favorites because to me they represent a signature style. They were happy to hear it, because these looks, “express what we wanted to show most strongly”. Early development of a beautiful signature style - the blending of skill and vision into a solid identity – will likely translate into a solid future for Everlasting Sprout. The a/w 2007-8 “Charm” collection will be available around the end of August.