Lunar leopard, 90 cm silk, Champagne
The clouded leopard flees until he can run no further. Under the gently rippling willow and flags of Tango No Sekku, he takes pause on a hillside. His tortoise companion attempts to disguise their presence with samurai tassels, while the ship rats emulate the rounded shapes of the delicate tsuba. It is the fifth night of the fifth moon in the lunisolar calendar, and a flight of swallows announces the outsiders' presence under the sparkling sky.
Measuring 90cm sq. (appr. 35" sq), 100% silk with rolled edges, dry clean only.
Every Sabina Savage design is hand illustrated, telling the story of the collection through the composition and details. The scarves are drawn in full, and the four corners of each scarf hold individual elements, ensuring the wearer will display a different feature however the scarf is folded. Each illustration takes around six weeks to complete.
Escape Into Edo
Sabina Savage’s FW24 collection tells the story of foreign species being compassionately released into Edo’s Tango No Sekku festivities. It is Japan, 1688. Japan has lived with its self-imposed isolation policy (sakoku) since 1639. Dutch traders have been the only traders allowed onto the islands of Japan.
In Sabina’s telling of the story, the city of Edo is ready to celebrate Tango No Sekku, (the Boy’s Day Festival) celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunisolar calendar. The city is richly decorated for the festivities. Dutch traders arrive with living gifts, collected from all over the world, for the Shogun. However, the festivities block the route to Edo Castle.
Little do the Dutch traders know, but the Shogun Tokugawa has enacted the Orders on Compassion for Living, a radical set of laws that ban cruelty and imprisonment of any living creatures with extreme consequences. These gifts will not be appreciated.
While the Dutch traders camp out for the night, the ‘living gifts’ sit in their cages, calling out in the night. Revelers from the festivities pass by the encampment, horrified at the sight of the caged animals. Quietly they begin to free the Leopard, the Rabbits and the Karasu (aka the crow). Terrified at first, the creatures creep forward, their eyes adjusting to their new surroundings. With each careful step, boldness takes hold. Within seconds the creatures bolt, disappearing into the night.
