By Damilola Olaoye
Oscar-winning costume designer Eiko Ishioka has died. The Japanese leading art director and graphic designer passed away on January 21, 2012 at the age of 73.
According to her studio manager, Tracy Roberts, ‘the cause was pancreatic cancer’.
Through her creative and exclusive works, Ishioka won various awards ranging from Oscar to Grammy to Cannes and other accolades.
The Academy Award-winning visual artist’s surreal and sensual designer costumes were worn by Broadway actors, Olympic athletes, Cirque du Soleil performers and movie stars like Jennifer Lopez.
Although the Japanese was trained as a graphic designer, for decades Ishioka was considered the foremost art director in Japan and she later came to be known as one of the foremost in the world.
Some of her laudable works include directing the costume designing for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; designed racing uniforms and outerwear for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City; also her comic book inspired costumes can currently be seen in “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” and so much more.
The late designer left behind her husband, Nicholas Soultanakis, whom she married last year; her mother, Mitsuko Saegusa Ishioka; two brothers, Koichiro and Jun Ishioka; and a sister, Ryoko Ishioka.
