Tan Yi-Ern Samuel

Tan Yi-Ern Samuel studies mid-twentieth century clothing and design within the context of the explosive surge in dressmaking or “cutting” literacy in modern Japan. Beginning in the Taishō period and focusing on the translation of cutting technologies, the development of conventions, and the pedagogy of cutting, Samuel studies the gradual transformation of dressmaking in Japan from a vocational skill initially taught to a cohort of primarily women homemakers, to a professional expertise with its own autonomous systems of discourse, reception, and ideology. His dissertation investigates a range of figures across the 1950s to 70s who were imbricated in this transformation, including design pedagogues like Kuwasawa Yōko, artists like Okanoue Toshiko, and designers like Takada Kenzō, Yamamoto Yohji, and Kawakubo Rei. 

Samuel’s past research has examined the work of Miyake Design Studio between 1995 to 2007, considering the intersection between the works and discourses produced by the studio in relation to intellectual property law on the subject of copies, patents, and legal battles. He holds an SMArchS in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Art from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a BA (Hons) in Architecture and MArch from the National University of Singapore, where he graduated with Highest Distinction. He has presented his work at CAA and SAHGB, and has published writings in Ardeth (2023), and Remote Practices: Architecture at a Distance (2022). In 2026, his essay on the collages of Okanoue Toshiko titled “A Headless Woman and Her Flared Skirt” won the Graduate Noma-Reischauer Prize in Japanese Studies.