Fetico (Q3128)
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Fetico is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Fetico |
Fetico is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Fetico’s Emi Funayama wants to bring back mystery. “There’s something that’s been bothering me,” she said backstage after her show. “Nowadays with social media, it’s become trendy to try and make yourself look better by revealing everything. I’m more attracted to people who keep their cards close to their chest.”She called this collection “The Secrets,”and started by researching vintage clothes from the 1980s. Pre-social media! What could be sexier than that? Funayama had been especially inspired by supermodel of the era Veronica Webb, and by the furtive female characters in the 1988 movie Drowning by Numbers. “I wanted to express the charm of a mysterious woman who has a secret,” she said.Fetico is one of Japan’s most exciting womenswear brands of the moment, and each season Funayama strengthens her position by showing femininity in a way that retains a sense of fantasy while still being down-to-earth. From the swishy polka dot slips and the delicate knitted camisoles to the floral print dresses ruched at the waist, the broderie anglaise cotton skirts with panty-line trims and the hosiery bicycle shorts, every opportunity to flatter the form was snatched. Translucent glittery dresses clung to the body, both baring and obscuring the skin, while ’80s power blazers were given strong shoulders and plunging backs, all appropriately topped off with pearl chokers and sexy secretary specs.But, again, she never strayed too far from reality. “I usually wear sneakers rather than heels, and though Fetico’s clothes are feminine and I think it’s cool to wear them with heels, when I think about how to make a more realistic look, I want to go with sneakers,” she explained of the footwear. The sneakers in question were done in silver, black, and white, and squared off at the toes. Comfortable, but still sharp.It should be said more in fashion, but sexy clothes that women actually want to wear—and wear for themselves—are a depressing rarity. In Tokyo at least, Funayama is the one moving the needle.
3 September 2024
Fetico’s Emi Funayama deals in unapologetically lusty clothes—Fetico is a nickname taken from the word ‘fetish’—which sets her apart in the decidedly non-lusty Japanese fashion market. Now 37, she had spent the past season feeling uneasy about ageing out of what wider society perceives as girlhood. “When I started creating this collection, I was concerned about the negative feelings women feel about getting older, and how we think about aging,” she said. “I realized how sad it was that as we get older, society tells us there’s so many things we should or shouldn’t do, and we can lose our sense of freedom.”And so this season she delved into her own sense of girlhood to protect it from those who would steal it. She called the collection Eternal Favorites, in reference to some of her best-loved things, and invited us to enjoy them too. The Addams Family, the macabre (but also cute) picture books of Edward Gorey, and Hans Bellmer’s unsettling dolls served as her starting points. Each came through in the crucifix slashes on velvet dresses that exposed flashes of skin, the funereal veils that covered the face, white collars and velvet ribbons worthy of Wednesday Addams, and Victorian-style lace-up boots. It was a gothic feast with just the right balance of the coquette, great casting, and plenty of sensual, wearable pieces that Fetico’s growing fanbase will delight in.And yet somehow it felt like she could have gone further with it. Funayama is an exciting talent that has become a highlight of the Tokyo schedule, and she’s set the bar high for herself. Did she meet it this time? There were flashes of newness, but a few ideas––like the bralets and the ruched bodycon dresses––we’d seen from Fetico before. There’s nothing wrong with having go-to staples, but Fetico’s identity has established a singular enough presence that it would be good to see it stretched a little more. Funayama has the design knowhow and the intelligence to go far. Now’s the time to push.
13 March 2024
Let it be said that nobody is making sexy clothes quite like Fetico’s Emi Funayama. This season, the designer invited us into her hotel bedroom, hung a Do Not Disturb sign on the door, and showed us the extent of what she was capable of.Funayama had been impacted by Sophie Calle’s 1981 workThe Hotel, a collection of voyeuristic photographs that the French artist took of empty hotel rooms while working as a chambermaid in Venice. Unmade bedsheets; racy magazines discarded in the wastepaper basket; chintzy wallpaper and clothes thrown on the back of a chair. Funayama took the Hong Kong actress Faye Wong as her muse and put her in those spaces: “I created the collection while imagining various scenes of her traveling, spending time at the hotel, or on stage,” she said backstage after the show.To create that fantasy, Funayama dressed her muse in lashings of sheer lingerie, silk slips as smooth as liquor, and floral print pajamas evocative of hotel wallpaper, plus out-of-the-house pieces like cotton eyelet dresses, denim, and a sensual power suit that spelled business. Particularly seductive was the choker-necked sheer panelling, plus a clever denim miniskirt that was subtly slit at the hips so that each step flashed a peek of skin.The fire in Funayama’s belly was ignited when she went to Paris in March, for the first time since before the pandemic. “I felt a great sense of freedom and realized that I had been suppressing myself. I want women to be able to feel a sense of freedom even in clothing, and to make choices that would allow them to be themselves, so that this would lead to the choice to live as they want,” she said. It was that Do Not Disturb sign again, repurposed literally, and for empowerment: “Do not disturb women living their own life freely,” she said.That potent thought unlocked a new level of accomplishment for Fetico; this collection was a real triumph. Funayama speaks to a new kind of sexuality among young women in Tokyo that is unfettered by societal expectations to be prim and proper—you only had to see the legions of fans who turned up at the show wearing their own Fetico pieces to see how well Funayama’s message is resonating. These are clothes made to seduce, to dominate, to take over the world. What else to do but submit?
29 August 2023
Willkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome! Designer Emi Funayama spent the past few months rewatching the iconic 1972 musicalCabaret, and for this collection drew on the sensual confidence of Liza Minelli’s protagonist Sally Bowles for inspiration.Fetico’s fräuleins walked out under a giant disco ball, dressed in flapper-inspired dresses that laced up at the sides or were cut out at the hips. Skirts and dresses flared at the bottom or were slit at the hem so they could let loose on the dance-floor. “I usually do a lot of straight and tight silhouettes, but this I thought it was cute to make hems that look beautiful when they’re moving, or when you dance,” she said after the show. BeyondCabaret, the collection was an homage to the confidence of women on stage; Helena Bonham Carter’s “dark charm” also served as a reference point.Later came some dashes of denim, which featured seams in the shape of underwear, while long-sleeved knitted mini dresses plunged to the navel, or were sheer to expose the lingerie worn underneath. It all felt polished and seductive—even the down coats were cinched at the waist to emphasize the curves of the body—showing off Funayama’s knack for bringing her unique brand of sexiness to everything she touches.The clever, on-your-own-terms sensuality of Funayama’s collection fulfils a need that is missing in Japan right now. The designer has spent a lot of time thinking about how the women in her home country tend to dull their own light and sexuality in order to fit in with what everyone else is doing. With her intoxicating clothes, Funayama offers an antidote, welcoming those who wear Fetico into her own Cabaret club. Life out there can be disappointing. Forget it! Here, life is beautiful.
17 March 2023
For spring, Fetico designer Emi Funayama found herself drawing inspiration from the Japanese actor and writer Izumi Suzuki, whose science fiction stories gained prominence in the 1970s. Funayama was particularly fascinated by the writer’s “extreme life full of music, alcohol, sex, and drugs,” so she attempted to imagine the types of clothes the eccentric Suzuki would wear if she were alive today.In recent seasons, Fetico has focused on shapely pieces that celebrate the female form, and Funayama continued that exploration this season. The collection—in mostly shades of black and white—included halter-neck dresses with sheer paneling, mesh dresses, and tulle tops that elegantly exposed the skin underneath. Like in Suzuki’s work, there was a clear aim to provoke thought and challenge the idea of daywear, especially with a lingerie-inspired assortment, which included a leather jumpsuit with white lace trim and circular cutouts at the hip—an unexpected mixture of daintiness and sexiness.Even more classic pieces had a twist too. A brown suit had a silky-sheer overlay piece (worn almost like a harness), and denim pieces had heavy pleating and stitching. A black collarless blazer jacket was given a deep V cut, and was inspired by the cut of a dress once worn by Suzuki. Funayama also introduced footwear this season: Flats and platforms featured sharp and square toes. At Fetico, nothing is ever ordinary—there’s always a subversion of classic shapes and a perfect homage to Suzuki’s spirit.
31 August 2022