Hozuki Fashion Collection

"Hozuki - A Feminine Spirit Wrapped in the Red Ribbon Cage"

Hozuki is a fashion collection designed by Art Lift in collaboration with artist Yumi Yamazaki.

In today’s society, almost all women are subconsciously trying to cater to social discipline and societal judgments. The entire culture leads us to go on a diet, to pay attention to our appearance, to be elegant and gentle, to talk less, and to smile more. This set of seemingly exquisite and beautiful rules is like a flexible and unbreakable ribbon that covers our eyes, mouth, and nose.

These pressures force us to become a delicately packaged bouquet that is quiet and does not need to be heard.

The red ribbon is the most eye-catching element in Yumi Yamazaki's paintings. Art creation emphasizes the need to express an artist’s own emotions. As a woman, Yumi Yamazaki found that even in the United States, a social discipline from the depths of human culture still instinctively suppresses the voice of women from the inside out.

This cross-boundary collaboration between Art Lift and Yumi brings the delicate characters in Yumi's works, wrapped in red ribbons and soft petals, to reality.

The name of this fashion collection, "Hozuki" (ほうずき), means ghost lamp in Japanese, describes the cape gooseberry fruit. When the cape gooseberry matures, the outer skin is almost transparent. Through the white veins like a cage, one can dimly see the petite, delicate fruit inside.

To break the cage, one must identify the cage first. Only then there is the possibility of change. Art Lift and Yumi call upon the power of design to confront social discipline and awaken the voice of women. Ultimately, the red ribbon is torn down from our eyes, no longer a symbol of oppression. Instead, it is worn on the body as a decorative remembrance, reminding women to have the courage to tear apart the bondage from social opinion and cultural confinement. The clothing design’s powerful collision of colors and forms encourages women to embrace themselves, to feel confident and independent.