10 Nov 2022
The Oribe brand has always had a deep respect for makers, whose passion and creativity raise their craft to the level of being considered a true art — just as co-founder Oribe Canales approached hairdressing. Honoring the brand’s dedication to craftsmanship, the Oribe team partners with artists to create special, custom packaging for its holiday collection.
For the 2022 holiday collection, the Oribe team is proud to announce its collaboration with modern Japanese artist Kohei Kyomori to create unique designs for seven limited-edition gift sets. The Tokyo-based artist is known for his vibrant, digital paintings, which reinterpret the concepts of classic ornamentation and handmade craftsmanship for the modern age.
“A large part of what we look for when selecting an artist is how they bring perspective and purpose to their work,” explains Vince Stavale, Director of Packaging for Oribe Hair Care. “We were immediately drawn to Kohei’s detailed and eye-catching style and inspired by his mindset that art is an opportunity to bridge social and cultural barriers to create beauty that can be understood and admired by all.”
Inspired by the Oribe “goddess” logo, Kohei created “Goddess of Paradise,” which weaves together traditional Japanese animal and plant motifs in a brilliant garden where a goddess’ flowing hair transforms into cascading water. The myriad shapes and forms that the water takes represent the diverse range of hair textures — all beautiful — seen in this world.The animals and insects shown in the work are allured by the scents of plants evocative of the Oribe signature Côte d’Azur fragrance. Different elements of the painting are used in each of the colorful gift boxes and enclosed packaging, making this limited-time collection truly covetable.
“Hair was a new and interesting motif for me as there are so many abstract shapes to work with,” says Kohei, expanding on the collaboration. “The Oribe team and I worked closely on every facet of the production and shared a strong mutual agreement that the work communicate the message of ‘unity in diversity.’ I am so pleased with the end result.”
Stemming from his longtime appreciation of fashion design, Kohei’s pieces always begin as hand-drawn, digital sketches before being printed onto life-size sheets of paper. Additional details are added to the design by hand before rendering another digital draft of the creation to apply final touches, and finally printing the work onto canvas. Meticulously hand painted, Kyomori layers a glossy, transparent UV resin on top of the flat artwork to add texture, followed by a powdered, matte mineral pigment (used in traditional Japanese art), resulting in a multi-dimensional and wonderfully colorful work of art.
