One can definitely say Hatsune Miku's fan base is diverse. If you look her up, you'll see that trendsetters, net-music composers, pop culture enthusiasts, fashionistas and visual artists from all over the world, use Miku's character as inspiration to create various art forms. They then use the Japanese avatar to express themselves to a growing worldwide audience via online platforms and a performance art subculture, in which people wear customs to represent their favorite characters. Miku can now add Givenchy's artistic director Riccardo Tisci and the creative team at Vogue Magazine to the list of inspired Miku creators. On Monday May 11th, Vogue Magazine's 2016 Met Gala issue hit newsstands and features Hatsune Miku meeting with Riccardo at the fashion house's Paris studio for a couture-gown fitting. Here's a look at the story.
"She's so cool," says Riccardo, one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People for his influence on 21st century fashion. "It's insane - Japan is 20, 30 years ahead of the rest of us ... she is a travel guide to the future."
"The balance is electric," says Vogue when talking about the photo which celebrates this year's "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology" Metropolitan Museums costume institute exhibition. "Miku, the technological pyrotechnic, and Riccardo, whose couture program knows no competition when it comes to handmade intricacies. Manus x machina, totally killing it."
"The collaboration with Vogue was a new and exciting challenge for us," says Guillaume Devigne at Crypton Future Media (the company who created Miku.) "Haute-couture is an unfamiliar territory for us, so we worked hard to design this CG composite featuring an exquisite Miku whom Vogue could identify with, while making sure we didn't aim for realism. No one wanted the photo to look like a model cosplaying as Miku. It had to be Miku wearing a Givenchy dress."
The photo was a true back and forth collaboration with the editorial staff at VogueMagazine who called on some of the best hair and make up people in the business to offer their advice to the Crypton tech team in Japan. "It was yet another occurrence of collaborative creation and another exploration to see what our curiosity uncovers," adds Guillaume. "Typical Miku stuff."
As with everything North America has experienced with Miku to date, her users continue to explore innovative possibilities and offer fresh opportunities for various people to create and share their art.
"We're expecting to see a variety of reactions from the fans and media, and we're excited to see what unfolds. We obviously hope people like it. There are so many different versions of Miku and we're really proud of this adaptation!"
Hatsune Miku is currently in North America on the first of its kind 10-city national headlining tour that began two weeks ago with sold out shows in Seattle, San Francisco and Dallas. Over 35,000 fans in North America will witness this revolutionary 3D live show and will have the chance to participate in a series of fan gathering events that celebrate the worldwide cultural movement surrounding Hatsune Miku.
Learn more about the tour and events (which include a Barnes & Noble drawing workshop and film festival) here http://mikuexpo.com/na2016/events
Hatsune Miku continues to be unique, appealing and keeps the conversation going about the intersection of art, technology and the future of pop culture.
"This is the real millennial pop star." - Vogue
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