A SHOULDER TO CRY ON
Yves Saint Laurent Ad Campaign • Autumn / Winter 2004 Collection • Craig McDean • Image courtesy of the August 2004 issue of Vogue via The Vogue Archive
It seemed only natural that Tom Ford chose Monsieur Laurent’s 1977 Les Chinoises Collection as inspiration for his final show at the house in 2004, stating, "I felt the pagoda shoulder was right... And it was a period I hadn't mined." Though China’s rich architectural history may have sufficed, Japan’s very own five-storey pagoda within the Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine complex located in Nikkō proves to be an idyllic reference for the pagoda sleeve as seen in these tinted photographs from the late 1800s.
Antique photograph featuring the five-story pagoda at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine • Rebuilt Circa 1818 • Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan • Hand-Colored Photograph Circa 1880
Toshogu Shrine (東照宮, Tōshōgū) is the final resting place of the most famous samurai leader, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan for over 250 years until 1868. Leyasu is enshrined at Toshogu as the deity Tosho Daigongen, "Great Deity of the East Shining Light". The lavishly decorated shrine complex consists of more than a dozen buildings set in a beautiful forest. Among the breathtaking structures at Nikko Toshogu, the five-storied pagoda is the most conspicuous because of its height. The original five-storey pagoda was donated by a daimyō in 1650, but it was burned down during a fire, and was rebuilt in 1818 and stands near the main entrance. The five stories represent the elements of existence in ascending order: earth, water, fire, wind, and void.
Silk Pagoda Jacket • Autumn / Winter 2004 Collection • Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent • Platon • Image courtesy of China : Through the Looking Glass by Andrew Bolton in association with the 2015 exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Yves Saint Laurent Ad Campaign • Autumn / Winter 2004 Collection • Craig McDean • Image courtesy of the October 2004 issue of Vogue via The Vogue Archive
Antique photograph featuring the five-story pagoda at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine • Rebuilt Circa 1818 • Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan • Hand-Colored Photograph Circa Late 19th Century
Antique photograph featuring the five-story pagoda at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine • Rebuilt Circa 1818 • Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan • Hand-Colored Photograph Circa 1880
Antique photograph featuring the five-story pagoda at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine • Rebuilt Circa 1818 • Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan • Hand-Colored Photograph Circa 1890
Julianne Moore modeling an ensemble by Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent • Autumn / Winter 2004 Collection • Vanity Fair • Michael Thompson
Entrance to the Tōshō-gū Shrine • Circa 1892 - 1897 • Kazumasa Ogawa • Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Silk Pagoda Jacket • Autumn / Winter 2004 Collection • Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent • Platon • Image courtesy of China : Through the Looking Glass by Andrew Bolton in association with the 2015 exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Antique photograph featuring the five-story pagoda at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine • Rebuilt Circa 1818 • Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan • Hand-Colored Photograph Circa Late 19th Century
Kate Moss modeling an ensemble by Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent • Autumn / Winter 2004 Collection • September 1, 2004 • Vogue • Mario Testino
Antique photograph featuring the five-story pagoda at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine • Rebuilt Circa 1818 • Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan • Hand-Colored Photograph Circa 1880
Antique photograph featuring the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Temple • Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan • Hand-Colored Photograph Circa Late 19th Century
Antique photograph featuring the five-story pagoda at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine • Rebuilt Circa 1818 • Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan • Hand-Colored Photograph Circa 1880
Vintage postcard featuring the five-story pagoda at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine • Rebuilt Circa 1818 • Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
Liya Kebede modeling an ensemble by Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent • Autumn / Winter 2004 Collection • July 1, 2004 • Vogue • Craig McDean
Antique photograph featuring the five-story pagoda at the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine • Rebuilt Circa 1818 • Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan • Hand-Colored Photograph Circa 1880
View of Yomeimon Gate, Shinto Temple, Nikkō • Late Meiji Era • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Yves Saint Laurent Ad Campaign • Autumn / Winter 2004 Collection • Craig McDean • Image courtesy of the September 2004 issue of Vogue via The Vogue Archive
Nikkō Tōshō-gū Temple • Circa 1870 - 1900 • Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Yves Saint Laurent Ad Campaign • Autumn / Winter 2004 Collection • Craig McDean
