A World Through the Eyes of Botanical Artist Marianne North at Kew Gardens

Marianne North Gallery at Kew Gardens. Flickr/Helen.2006, CC BY-NC. Cover picture: Stephane Rolland Haute Couture in Paris by Andrea Heinsohn

By Mary Voice, The University of Melbourne

Have you ever entered a gallery, cathedral or grand old ballroom and drawn breath with surprise? Usually, it is opulence, vastness or one stunning painting or sculpture that evokes this response — think Michelangelo’s David, or Chartres Cathedral or the hall of mirrors at Versailles.

In London, an extraordinary gallery draws gasps because there is none like it anywhere else. It is like entering a giant “globe” covered in paintings of faraway places and plants. You can walk from South America to North America to Asia in a few paces.

All the paintings are by the Victorian-era female botanical artist and explorer Marianne North. The small gallery nestles in a stunning natural setting — Kew Gardens beside the Thames River.

A very intrepid painter

The design of the gallery and the layout of the 800-plus paintings were largely North’s idea, assisted by Kew Gardens staff. Though she was a largely self-taught botanical illustrator, she also discovered four specimens that were named in her honour.

Victorian-era adventurer and artist Marianne North, photographed at her home in Ceylon by Julia Margaret Cameron around the 1870s. Wikimedia Commons

I remember my first impression of the peacefulness and softness on entering the gallery, elicited by a timber-panelled gallery covered top-to-bottom with paintings. It is a tightly packed mosaic of artworks.

Then I notice the gold lettering of countries and continents above the panels —America, Australia, Japan, Jamaica — and begin to explore the natural world as it was in Victorian times.

The vibrancy, colour and beauty in each individual painting emerges on closer viewing.

I walk from one continent to another noticing the unique vegetation of each, but also the similarity and diversity of natural forms — when these paintings were being created and collated, Charles Darwin had already written:

[…] endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

The gallery displays this exquisitely, from a grand avenue of Indian rubber trees in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), medicinal plants from the tropics, vivid tangerine flowers on coral trees in Brazil, early coffee plantations in Jamaica, to a tall and majestic monkey puzzle tree in Chile. Australian banksia, bottle tree and bottle-brush are accurately and beautifully depicted.

Within the walls of the gallery, I can even travel back in time to see what Mudgee in NSW looked like in the late 1800s.

Over 14 years, Marianne North visited 15 countries and created more than 800 detailed paintings.

Then there are the four specimens named in North’s honour. Kniphofia northiae, discovered in South Africa, now grows in many gardens with the common name red hot poker (Painting no. 367). Northia seychellana is also called the capucin tree Painting no. 501). Nepenthes northiana, a large and unusual pitcher plant, was discovered by Marianne in Borneo (Painting no. 561). And crinum northianum , in the lily family (Painting no. 602), comes from Sarawak, Borneo.

A New Pitcher Plant from the Limestone Mountains of Sarawak Borneo, painted by Marianne North, circa 1876. Wikimedia Commons/Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

When Charles met Marianne

North was one of several Victorian-era British female explorers. She was born (1830) into a wealthy family and had early connections to Kew gardens since her father knew its first director, Sir William Hooker.

Her interest in botanical art grew as an educational activity and as a means of passing on knowledge in pre-photography times. She made nearly 900 works from across the continents and larger islands.

North set out on her first main botanical tours in the 1870s, 40 years after Darwin sailed on HMS Beagle, determined to “paint from nature”. Her paintings of vegetation, birds, mammals and terrain, depicted with close accuracy, helped to foster awareness of the evolutionary connections between plants, animals and environment.

North and Darwin were in fact acquainted. In 1880 they met and discussed her paintings and he advised her to see and paint the Australian vegetation “which was unlike that of any other country”. North took Darwin’s advice, and returned to Down house in 1881 with a new collection spanning Townsville to Perth.

View near Brighton, Victoria by Marianne North, circa 1879. Wikimedia Commons/Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

The world through her eyes

North gifted her botanical collection to Kew Gardens along with a gallery to house it. She arranged the paintings and also the decorations surrounding the doors to the gallery. Hence the unique design and global feel of the gallery interior. It opened in 1882.

Some 140 years later, we can explore her adventurous life and travels and view a global nature study in one gallery. With today’s technology we can see much of it online, which is handy during lockdown. I wonder what human expansion and global warming have done to those special places? If I could retrace North’s steps, what would I see?

After “browsing the continents”, you can exit the gallery into Kew Gardens. Among the 50,000 plants at the World Heritage site, you can search for the rare Australian Wollemi Pine, growing quite vigorously in the grounds.

The words of Darwin in 1859’s Origin of Species come to mind: “There is grandeur in this view of life”.

African Baobab Tree in the Princess’s Garden at Tanjore, India. Painted by Marianne North, circa 1878. Wikimedia Commons/Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Mary Voice, Lecturer - Climate (Honorary), The University of Melbourne

TRAVEL: How Social Media is Breathing New Life into Bhutan’s Unwritten Local Languages

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By Tashi Dema, University of New England

Dechen, 40, grew up in Thimphu, the capital city of Bhutan. Her native language was Mangdip, also known as Nyenkha, as her parents are originally from central Bhutan. She went to schools in the city, where the curriculum was predominantly taught in Dzongkha, the national language, and English.

In Dechen’s house, everyone spoke Dzongkha. She only spoke her mother tongue when she had guests from her village, who could not understand Dzongkha and during her occasional visits to her village nestled in the mountains. Her mother tongue knowledge was limited.

However, things have now changed.

With 90% of Bhutanese people using social media and social media penetrating all remotes areas in Bhutan, Dechen’s relatives in remote villages are connected on WeChat.

She is in three WeChat groups where people usually communicate through voice messages in their native language. Most WeChat users in rural parts of the country communicate in their oral native language.

“I learn many words. I learnt how to say a lot of things in my own language,” the mother of two now living in Western Australia told me.

Dechen’s story is not isolated. Social media is giving a new lifeline to Bhutan’s native languages, which do not have written script and lack proper documentation. By communicating through voice messages, social media is giving Bhutanese people in both urban and rural areas a new opportunity to use their local language.

Losing Bhutan’s languages

Bhutan is a tiny Himalayan nation with a population of under 800,000 people. Internet and television was introduced only in 1999 and mobile phones in 2004.

The country has more than 20 local languages, but only Dzongkha has written text and is promoted as the national language.

The country struggles to promote the national language and its usage against English. Today most urban residents, especially the elites, speak English as their primary language.

WeChat users can send each other voice messages in their local language. Shutterstock

Many languages – especially minority languages – are vanishing or becoming endangered as younger generations switch to Dzongkha and English.

The medium of instruction in schools is mostly in English; Dzongkha is taught only as grammar and literature. Students are shamed and often punished for using their local languages.

The preservation and promotion of local languages, therefore, depends on the speakers. A language faces extinction when its speakers die out or switch to another language.

Linguist Pema Wangdi has researched languages in Bhutan, and he told me many people are losing their native language.

“When we lose our language, we lose a piece of our national identity,” he told me.

Languages are an important part of cultural identities. Pema Gyamtsho/Unsplash

Wangdi has identified there are no longer any speakers of Olekha, an indigenous dialect of Rukha in Wangdu Phodrang.

“The loss of a single language is a loss of a piece of our national linguistic heritage and identity,” he said. “When a language is lost, cultural traditions which are tied to that language such as songs, myths and poetry will be lost forever.”

Other Bhutanese languages – including Tshophu language of Doyaps in Samtse, Monpa language of central Bhutan, and Gongdukha of Mongar – are endangered and at the brink of extinction.

Preservation of local languages

The future of the minority languages are at threat. The Constitution of Bhutan mandates the preservation and promotion of local languages, but there are no official efforts to preserve native languages.

But encouraging people to speak their native languages can have far reaching benefits in preserving and promoting Bhutan’s rich culture and tradition. Language embodies identity, ethnicity and cultural values: a thriving local language would help transfer this intangible wealth to the younger generation.

Social media could be an invaluable tool in this preservation.

Social media could be an invaluable tool in the preservation of languages. Shutterstock

Bhutan could save its languages from becoming extinct with promotion of social media usages and language education could be done on the social media platforms. With both young and old people glued to social media, encouraging more people to use local languages in social media could generate interest among the youth to learn their local languages.

It could also help in documenting the endangered local languages as the older generation can record their voices on WeChat.

Many elder citizens feel strongly about their language and emphasise teaching their mother tongue to the younger generation and their grandchildren. Social media – joining the younger generation on platforms where they feel at home – could be the way forward.

Tashi Dema, PhD Candidate in Language and Politics, University of New England

The Artistry of Yuima Nakazato: Backstage in Paris

Backstage at the Utakata haute couture show by Yuima Nakazato, at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Main photograph (above) by Andrea Heinsohn and cover picture by Elli Ioannou for DAM

In Paris, we take a behind-the-scenes look at Yuima Nakazato’s preparations for his haute couture show. From the quiet, early morning streets of Le Marais our team embarked on a whirlwind journey to capture the essence of the Japanese designer’s collection at the iconic Palais de Tokyo. The backstage tumult, the meticulous preparation, and the electrifying moments of the runway were all part of the spectacle that unfolded, culminating in a post-show flurry of interviews and celebration. Story by Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photographs by Elli Ioannou and Andrea Heinsohn

The sun rising on a winter morning in Paris,

 during haute couture week. 

Photograph: JM Cilento

A wintry dawn breaks across a pale blue sky in Paris, streaks of pink turning orange across the mansard roofs. Tall 18th century windows look over the last of the snow covering the green lawn of an elegant garden created by André Le Nôtre in Le Marais. 

It is a barbarically early hour to get ready to leave for a fashion show during haute couture week. However, today the DAM magazine team are going to shoot the backstage preparation of the Japanese couturier Yuima Nakazato.

Stepping from an enclosed courtyard into Rue Beaubourg opposite the Pompidou Centre, there are few people about except rugged-up figures in long coats and hats, clutching paper bags of croissants and pain au chocolat, hurrying home for a café au lait. Walking quickly to the metro and descending into the warmth of the underground, it is already crowded with people going to work.

We only have a minute to wait before the train whooshes into the République station and we join the throngs pressed together inside. Standing up, we have twelve stations to go to reach the Iéna stop and walk to the Palais de Tokyo, where many fashion shows are held.

Dawn is a barbarically early hour to get ready to leave for a fashion show during haute couture week but we are shooting backstage 

Make-up artist with a model before 

Yuima Nakazato's evocative show. 

Photograph: Andréa Heinsohn

Mending our way through the crowds at the station, we climb the endless stairs in the Paris Metro and look at all of the exit signs to different streets to work out which is the quickest to reach Avenue du Président-Wilson. A wide, elegant boulevard, it leads to the Palais de Tokyo, in the16th arrondissement of Paris. 

Walking up to the columned building, the scale and height are imposing and reflect that it was built in 1937 and originally called the Palais des Musées d'Art Moderne. Under the canopy of the looming columns are temporary signs for other fashion designers, pointing in opposite directions of the huge complex. 

We discover the one for Yuima Nakazato and find ourselves in an anteroom with two assistants who have sheets of listed names of those allowed “backstage” before and after the show. Our photographers, Elli Ioannou and Andrea Heinsohn, have already checked in and have started shooting. The show is being held in the Saut du Loup show space below. We gingerly descend down a steep, circular set of steps hearing a buzz of voices and the rush of movement floating up from the rooms underneath.

Built as a modern art gallery in 1937, the Palais de Tokyo has an imposing, columned entrance 

The models are shot in their full look

with a red and white background, 

reflecting the theme of the show.

Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

We arrive in a big open space with make-up artists, hair stylists, photographers, dressers and models all in different sections getting ready. 

Yuima Nakazato’s garments are hung with the picture and name of each model and there are tables of his sculptural ceramic jewellery that are designed especially for each look.

Another part of this cavernous, high-ceilinged room is set up with a white background sheet covered in dashes of blood-red, which the models will be photographed against for the lookbook, after the show. 

Yuima Nakazato is like a wraith, moving between backstage and the show space as he oversees all of the details. A neat figure in a stylish, charcoal jacket with his black hair pulled back, he keeps a close eye on all of the varied aspects of the preparation. He dashes between adjusting his designs on each model and going out to the runway to watch how the models, music and choreography are working.

A neat figure in a stylish, charcoal jacket, with his black hair pulled back, Nakazato keeps a close eye on all of the varied aspects of the show

A single, silvery tear (in make-up) glistens on the cheek 

of a model backstage. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

The designer has a small camera that he carries with him, slung across his shoulder to capture his own eye view of the preparations. 

He appears calm, focused and reserved but beneath the tranquil surface he must be feeling nervous about presenting another expressive show, one he has been thinking about and working on for months.

Dynamic CCO Bradly Dunn Klerks leads us through the long, white curtains separating the backstage from the show room where the collection will be staged. Low, white benches line the walls and wait ready for the guests who will arrive in two short hours. The floors are covered in drop sheets to protect them until the show opens. Photographers are already gathered at one end of the runway, finding the best spots and adjusting their equipment.

As the models come out, Yuima's designs look romantic, otherworldly, the voluminous silhouettes and graceful folds, falling in fluid lines down the body. A monochromatic palette in sombre hues of dark greys, olive and black give the collection a tenebrous atmosphere. Making mysterious arm movements, like pointing upwards as they walk, the models are adjusted by a producer and observed closely by the designer.

The designs look romantic, otherworldly, the voluminous silhouettes and graceful folds, falling in fluid lines down the body 

Tsubasa Hori practices with dancer Pau Aran

before the show. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Musician and composer Tsubasa Hori is a virtuoso of the traditional Japanese drum, taiko, along with piano, voice and the Koto harp.

 

She practices her piano and vocals as the models walk the runway under the red lights. Spanish Barcelona-born dancer Pau Aran Gimeno enters the runway and begins to practice his writhing, expressive dance created by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. 

The award-winning Belgian choreographer is the director of the Geneva Ballet and the performance of Mozart's Idomeneo with costumes by Yuima Nakazato.

During the haute couture show, Pau Aran Gimeno will wear all white and step into the central pool of red that will then form bloodied steps along the catwalk as he dances along it.

The cameraman with the bulky Steadicam follows every movement. When the circular basin is latter filled with red, it will make a dramatic contrast against the white runway and subtly represent the Japanese flag.  

Musician and composer Tsubasa Hori is a virtuoso of the traditional Japanese drum, taiko, along with piano and voice

The models go through their paces and 

practice the mysterious hand movements.

Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn. 

Show producers with earpieces line the models up behind the diaphanous curtains as they get ready to do a full rehearsal of the show. They walk in order, fully dressed apart from some of the jewellery and body art, with make up including a glistening tear drop on the cheek. 

Perhaps a sorrowful reference to the state of our planet. Yuima Nakazato is committed to creating new ways of making fashion which will have less of an impact on our environment.

Meanwhile, the designer stands quietly at the side of the runway, observing how his vision and all of its many threads finally starts to come together as a finished tapestry. 

The models have a choregraphed piece at the finale of the show created by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui where they hold their hands pointing to the ceiling or come together to touch like a Renaissance dance.

Backstage, the last touches are being made to make-up and hair as the models are put in order of their entrance. The taped drop sheets are taken up from the floor and the pristine white revealed with the basin of red.

The show space is bathed in red light and there is a palpable sense of anticipation. The first guests are allowed to enter and begin to take their seats. A hum of conversation fills the air as journalists and buyers who see each other at many of the other designers’ shows catch up. There is a sense of camaraderie in sharing the excitement, as Yuima Nakazato is known for his unexpected, original shows with their element of fashion poetry.

As the taped drop sheets are taken up from the floor and pristine white revealed, the show space is bathed in red light and there is a palpable sense of anticipation 

Like a modern Renaissance dance, the 

models come together at the finale. 

Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

All goes quiet as the music begins and Tsubasa Hori beats her drum and the first model walks out in a long olive and black tunic, hand raised. The show is engaging and thrilling with the crescendo of Pau Aran Gimeno's dance in the pool of red and then along the catwalk. This is followed by the models coming together afterwards, facing each other in a long row, hands raised and joined.

The applause is rapturous as Yuima runs out and pulls a brush from his jacket and dips it in the red pool, signing his name. He makes a deep bow and then runs back down the catwalk to disappear backstage.

It may be a leisurely entrance to fashion shows by guests, but once they are over there is a race to the exit to get to the next show, catching the Paris Fashion Week shuttle bus outside ~ which doesn't wait long. Soon the Saut de Loup is empty except for the photographers packing up at one end, a few people lingering to absorb what they have just experienced. 

Backstage it is all action as the models are photographed for the lookbook and then change back into their own clothes, Amid the commotion, Yuima Nakazato begins a long series of interviews with journalists from all over the world, switching from his creative mind to focusing on answering questions about his work. You can see his face changing from the introverted concentration of putting on his show to a more expansive expression as he has to talk about what he has just created. There is an air of relief and celebration as the presentation of the collection is over and is a great success.

The show is engaging and thrilling with the crescendo of Pau Aran Gimeno's expressive dance in the pool of red 

Designer Yuima Nakazato is interviewed 

after his show by France 24.

Photograph: JM Cilento  

The DAM team come together and we decide that we have enough shots and interviews and take our leave of the designer and his team. 

Climbing up the stairs and out into the cold, fresh air, we breathe deeply and look around to see that since we have been at Yuima Nakazato's show, large crowds have gathered outside the main doors to the Palais de Tokyo.

People stand a dozen deep, holding their phones up behind rows of professional photographers and fashionistas. 

We look up and see Jennifer Lopez arriving at the top of the stairs for the next show that is about to begin. She turns slowly to face the crowds, clustered below, on either side of her. She gives a fleeting glimpse of her swishing long, floriate cape and Sixties-style hair, waves as people shout out "JLo!" for her to turn the other way, before disappearing inside to another world of fashion. 

The frenetic flock soon disperse, and we start walking back up Avenue du Président-Wilson, stopping to look across Paris to the Eiffel Tower, a fretworked iron citadel against an azure sky. The models from Yuima Nakazato's show catch us up, wearing their everyday clothes but still with the elaborate make-up and hair. Smoking and laughing they stop for a photograph with us before they head off into the winter gloaming to their next runway.

Scroll down to see more highlights backstage in Paris from Yuima Nakazato's Utakata haute couture collection

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Elli Ioannou 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the  Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Elli Ioannou

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Ell Ioannou

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn 

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Andrea Heinsohn

Behind-the-scenes in Paris at Yuima Nakazato’s Utakata haute couture show for Spring/Summer 2024 at the Palais de Tokyo. Photograph: Elli Ioannou