Japanese designer adds new accent to Chinese films

By Isabel Reynolds

TOKYO (Reuters) – None of the recent wave of Chinese
martial arts films would be complete without the protagonists’
jewel-coloured silk robes rippling across the screen as they
swoop into battle.

Despite China’s rich tradition of textile design, many of
the costumes featured in action movies such as “Hero” (2002)
and “House of Flying Daggers” (2004) are in fact the creations
of a Japanese designer — Emi Wada.

This month, admirers are flocking to a rare exhibition in
Tokyo to see for themselves the vivid colors and embroidery of
costumes worn by the likes of Chinese actors Ziyi Zhang and Jet
Li.

Wada’s recent Asian success has apparently been little
affected by simmering ill-feeling toward Japan in China and
South Korea, where many suffered under Japanese militarism in
the early 20th century.

“When ‘Hero’ became a big international hit, I felt the
Chinese people had accepted my costume designs,” Wada said in a
fax interview this week, adding that she had had no difficulty
in collaborating with non-Japanese.

“I work in exactly the same way whichever country I am in,”
she said.

Born in 1937 in Japan’s ancient capital and textile center
of Kyoto, Wada studied painting before launching a career in
theatrical costume design.

She first sprang to international fame in 1985 with her
Oscar-winning designs for Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran,” one of her
first forays into film.

After two decades of work with directors such as Peter
Greenaway and on stage and television design, she has recently
carved out a new niche for herself, mixing and matching
influences from Asia and beyond in her work on Chinese films.

Her unique take on Asian style has won her an armful of
awards in Hong Kong and met with little discussion of whether
the costumes, which incorporate Korean touches and Indian
fabrics, are culturally accurate.

Sticklers for detail have complained about Hollywood’s
inaccurate portrayal of traditional Japanese attire in this
year’s “Memoirs of a Geisha,” but Wada says recreating history
is not her top priority.

“What the costume must express is character,” she said. “I
wouldn’t ignore history and tradition completely, but it is a
question of conferring with the director to decide what is most
important.”

Wada’s dedication to her craft has stunned collaborators
such as Zhang Yimou, director of “Hero,” the tale of an
assassin and the warlord he plans to kill, as well as “House of
Daggers,” a complex tale of star-crossed lovers.

On one occasion, unable to recreate a rich shade of red
using Chinese water, she used up truck loads of mineral water
to dye the fabric to the exact color she wanted.

“Costume design is always a battle against time and budget
constraints,” she said. “I always aim for perfection, but it’s
very difficult.”

Wada is currently working on a South Korean film being shot
in China, as well as a New York Metropolitan Opera production
“The First Emperor,” which premieres next year.