[2018] "Thank you for your support! Yuzuru Hanyu Exhibition" Costume display mannequin

[yuzurujenn]

Machine-translation. Inaccuracies exist*

 

 

Source: https://www.kiiya.co.jp/jitsurei01/

Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20220522224056/https://www.kiiya.co.jp/jitsurei01/

 

"Thank you for your support! Yuzuru Hanyu Exhibition" Costume display mannequin

 

From April 11, 2018, the "Thank You for Your Support! Yuzuru Hanyu Exhibition" was held at the Nihonbashi Takashimaya 8th Floor Hall. The exhibition mainly featured over 100 powerful news photographs taken by Yomiuri Shimbun photographers over the 10 seasons from when Yuzuru Hanyu won his first All-Japan Junior Championships in 2008 until he achieved his second consecutive Olympic victory at the Pyeongchang Games in February.

This time, we'd like to share an episode about how we created a display mannequin of the costume that Yuzuru Hanyu actually wore in competitions. Through this process, we encountered the physical form of the extraordinary figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu, and gained a new and valuable experience regarding the creation and presentation of the human body.

 

Spoiler

The Nihonbashi Takashimaya 8th floor hall is a huge success every day, with long lines forming outside.

 

When it was decided to display the costumes worn by Hanyu in competitions, mannequins were initially chosen. Mannequins usually have faces and poseable arms and legs. Yuzuru Hanyu is a gold medalist who has moved people all over the world. Everyone has an image of his face and figure etched in their minds. The problem was that when the costumes were put on a ready-made mannequin, it didn't look like him...and that's when Zeal Associates Co., Ltd. first contacted us. The technician responsible for making Hanyu's costumes happened to use Kiiya dress forms for pattern cutting. Later, development of the mannequin was taken over by Agathas Co., Ltd., and with the support of the people at the Yomiuri Shimbun, the project was finally completed.

 

The Kiiya Sculpting Department creates mannequins for making clothes and for showcasing those clothes. Their job is to constantly observe the shape of the body. This includes numerical values such as width, thickness, length, and circumference, as well as posture. They gather various information such as muscle structure and skeletal structure to create one optimal shape.

 

From among the existing base models owned by the company, an appropriate body form was selected and extensively customized. The papier-mâché shell was cut open and the thickness of the torso was reduced. The lower body was made even slimmer, and the upper and lower sections of the body were then joined together. As you can see, the result is the elegant figure of Yuzuru Hanyu, with well-toned muscles from the hips to the legs. Four mannequins for Yuzuru Hanyu were completed to display four costumes.

 

Mannequin for displaying Yuzuru Hanyu's costumes

Yuzuru Hanyu is extremely slender, and his well-trained body is particularly thin. This is likely because he has no excess fat, and through daily training, he has created a body shape that is suitable for the characteristics of the sport and allows him to perform the routines he aims for. It is not a feminine slender physique, but rather a beautiful masculine proportion. His body shape is completely different from that of the average Japanese man, as one might imagine based on his height and size.

The mannequin in the foreground is a child's size. In order to fit the costume, modifications were made to the thigh area of a mannequin for a 7-year-old child. We hope this brings to mind the image of young Yuzuru Hanyu for our customers.

 

The costumes were finally put on the mannequins that were delivered the afternoon before the event started , and I'm sure everyone at Yomiuri Shimbun breathed a sigh of relief.

 

A key feature of Kiiya body forms is the precise way the stretched fabric conforms to the shape of the form. To avoid disrupting visitors’ impressions of the costumes on display, they function as natural, understated objects, supporting Yuzuru Hanyu’s body shape from within.

 

The photo was taken during the setup just before the event at Nihonbashi Takashimaya. Saito from Kiiya's sales department and Uzura from the sculpting department assisted the staff as they carefully handled the costumes and dressed the mannequins.

 

The exhibition “Thank You for Your Support! Yuzuru Hanyu Exhibition” is being held at the 8th floor hall of Nihombashi Takashimaya until Monday, April 23, featuring displays and merchandise sales. In addition, related products for Yuzuru Hanyu are also being sold on the first floor.

 

Following this, the event will be held at six locations until August 20, 2018, as follows:
Nihonbashi Takashimaya April 11th - April 23rd
Osaka Takashimaya April 25th - May 7th
Kyoto Takashimaya May 9th - May 21st
Niigata Isetan June 13th - June 25th
Fujisaki Department Store (Sendai) June 28th - July 3rd
JR Nagoya Takashimaya July 19th - July 30th
Yokohama Takashimaya August 8th - August 20th