Inspirational designer Christopher Nemeth.

Christopher Nemeth (1959-2010)

Whilst looking through street style blogs based in Japan I noticed a British designers name Christopher Nemeth, I hadn’t before heard of him but after researching I have come to realise that his design process has inspired many designers after him such as Chalayan, Miyake and Yamamato.

He was a graduate of Camberwell College of Arts in 1982 where he was not known as a clothing designer but an artist who took apart pieces of clothing and used as materials on his canvases. He was interested in the development of a project and what stages he went through to get a final image; it was more about how he learnt as he went on rather than a desired aim he wanted to produce.

Soon after college in the mid 80s he became interested in clothing and was the first designer really to deconstruct a previous garment and then remake into a new shape. His process of deconstruction and manipulation of fabrics has inspired many designers who like Nemeth look for the beauty in the imperfect in their final garment – an unfinished hem, asymmetrical cut.

Early on in his design career he relocated to Tokyo it was while he was based there that his raw aesthetic took on shape and became popular among the Japanese youth. He became well known for using old postal sacks, he enjoyed recapturing the texture and history of the post sack and changing into a wearable garment imprinted with a past.

While he may not be too well known over here his influence has defiantly been imprinted on Japan fashion with later Japanese designers using the principle of Nemeth’s deconstruction techniques in their tailoring and style aesthetic.


Images from 2011 S/S Pop Magazine, all Christopher Nemeth clothing