was a Japanese art director, costume designer, and graphic designer known for her work in stage, screen, advertising, and print media.
Noted for her advertising campaigns for the Japanese boutique chain Parco, she collaborated with sportswear company Descente in designing uniforms and outerwear for members of the Swiss, Canadian, Japanese, and Spanish teams at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (in collaboration with graphic designer Rafael Esquer) and was the director of costume design for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work in Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 romantic-horror film Bram Stoker's Dracula, which was based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, and received a posthumous nomination in the same category for her work in Tarsem Singh's 2012 fantasy comedy film Mirror Mirror. She was also nominated for three Tony Awards for her set and costume design in M. Butterfly and costume design in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.Jones, Kenneth. "'Once', 'Clybourne Park', 'Porgy and Bess', Audra McDonald, 'Salesman' Win Tony Awards" Playbill.com, June 10, 2012
Life and career Ishioka was born in Tokyo to a commercial graphic designer father and a housewife mother. Although her father encouraged her interest in art as a child, he discouraged her desire to follow him into the business. She graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. As director of costume design for opening ceremony of 2008 Beijing Olympics, Ishioka found inspiration from art pieces such as Greek statues and African helmets. As a result, a large number of costumes that are able to visualize fabric texture, actions, and aura were designed under her hands.
Advertising career Ishioka began her career with the advertising division of the cosmetics company Shiseido in 1961 and won Japan's most prestigious advertising award four years later. Ishioka was discovered by Tsuji Masuda, who created Parco Ikebukuro from the ailing Marubutsu Department Store. When Parco did well and expanded to a Shibuya location in 1973, Ishioka designed Parco Shibuya's first 15-second commercial for the grand opening with "a tall, thin black woman, dressed in a black bikini, dancing with a very small man in a Santa Claus outfit". She became deeply involved in Parco's image. Her last Parco campaign involved Faye Dunaway as "face of Parco" wearing black, on a black chair against a black wall, and peeling and eating an egg in one minute as "a film for Parco."The Brothers by Leslie Downer pp 239–240 She became its chief art director in 1971; her work there is noted for several campaigns featuring Faye Dunaway and for its open and surreal eroticism. In 1983, she ended her association with Parco and opened her own design firm.
In 2003, she designed the logo for the Houston Rockets.
Film career In 1985, director Paul Schrader chose Ishioka to be the production designer for his 1985 film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. Her work went on to win her a special award for artistic contribution at the Cannes Film Festival that year. Ishioka's work with Francis Ford Coppola on the poster for the Japanese release of Apocalypse Now led to their later collaboration in Coppola's Dracula, which earned Ishioka an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Ishioka also worked on four of Tarsem Singh's films, beginning with the Jennifer Lopez-starrer The Cell in 2000, and including The Fall, Immortals, and Mirror Mirror.
Ishioka also designed costumes for theater and the circus. In 1999, she designed costumes for Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Dutch Opera. She designed costumes for Cirque du Soleil: Varekai, which premiered in 2002, as well as for Julie Taymor's Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which premiered in 2011. She also directed the music video for Björk's "Cocoon" in 2002 and designed costumes for the "Hurricane" tour of singer Grace Jones in 2009.
Ishioka's work is included in the permanent collection of museums throughout the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Filmography YearTitleDirectorCredited asNotes Costume Designer Production Designer 1985 Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters Paul Schrader Also uncredited costume designer 1991 Closet Land Radha Bharadwaj 1992 Bram Stoker's Dracula Francis Ford Coppola 2000 The Cell Tarsem Singh with April Napier 2006 The Fall 2007 Theresa: The Body of Christ Ray Loriga 2011 Immortals Tarsem Singh 2012 Mirror Mirror Posthumous release
Awards and nominations Association Year Category Work Result Ref. Academy Awards 1993 Best Costume Design Bram Stoker's Dracula 2013 Mirror Mirror British Academy Film Awards 1994 Best Costume Design Bram Stoker's Dracula Costume Designers Guild Awards 2013 Excellence in Fantasy Film Mirror Mirror Drama Desk Awards 1988Outstanding Costume DesignM. ButterflyOutstanding Set Design2012Outstanding Costume DesignSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Grammy Awards 1987 Best Recording Package Tutu Outer Critics Circle Award2012Outstanding Costume DesignSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2001 Best Costume Design The Cell Saturn Awards 1993 Best Costume Design Bram Stoker's Dracula 2001 The Cell Tony Awards 1988 Best Costume Design M. Butterfly Best Scenic Design 2012Best Costume Design of a MusicalSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Other recognition Ishioka was inducted into the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 1992. Ishioka was honored with a special Google Doodle on July 12, 2017, which would have been her 79th birthday.
Books The 1990 book Eiko by Eiko collects her work in art direction and graphic design. A second book, Eiko on Stage, followed in 2000.
Death Ishioka died of pancreatic cancer in Tokyo on January 21, 2012. She married her companion Nicholas Soultanakis in hospital a few months before her death.
Legacy Her archive has been given to UCLA Library Special Collections.
Notes
References
External links
The Theater. Very Parco. A poster created under Ishioka's art direction featured on Cooper Hewitt's Object of the Day blog, Smithsonian Design Museum