Emi Wada: My Life in the Making

When I saw this book (Emi Wada: My Life in the Making by Joel Chu) via Karin's Style Blog, it got my inspiration compass spinning. The sewn muslin cover with its wabi-sabi, unrefined appeal definitely speaks of costume designer, Emi Wada's design process. It goes so perfectly with the title, "My Life in the Making". And the title could mean her life is still evolving as well as "making", I'm sure, refers to her design process and craft. I especially like the way the rawness of the book cover is juxtaposed against images of her sumptuous, richly colored costumes within. In a sense, it shows the beginning to end stages--how the costume first starts off as a muslin gown before it ultimately reaches the beautiful costume you see inside.

The cover also reminds me of my own personal, often contradictory, design style--like my color palette which usually teeters between muted versus bold, primary colors and finished products with rough imperfection versus clean lines.

(Oh, and check out Emi Wada's website--not only is she super talented, she's one cute Asian lady!)