Directory of Japanese Fashion Designers

Japanese designers changed the course of fashion in the late twentieth century, and archive pieces from their key seasons are now collected and studied like works of design. This directory introduces the names collectors look for and the eras that matter most.

The Paris generation

• Kenzo Takada. One of the first Japanese designers to build a house in Paris, opening his boutique there in 1970, known for colour, print and folkloric mixes.
• Issey Miyake. Founded his design studio in 1970 and is celebrated for technical pleating. The Pleats Please line followed in the 1990s, and Bao Bao bags have their own following.
• Rei Kawakubo. Founder of Comme des Garçons. Her Paris debut in 1981, with that of Yohji Yamamoto, introduced a new language of black, asymmetry and deconstruction.
• Yohji Yamamoto. Known for sculptural tailoring in black and for his Y's and Pour Homme lines.
• Hanae Mori. The first Japanese designer admitted to the Paris haute couture calendar, known for butterfly motifs.

The Comme des Garçons family

Several designers began within Comme des Garçons. Junya Watanabe has shown under his own name with the company since the early 1990s, and Tao Kurihara and Fumito Ganryu also designed lines within the group. Labels inside garments, and the line names on them, help to place a piece.

Tokyo and Harajuku

• Jun Takahashi. Founder of Undercover, whose early collections mixed punk, craft and storytelling.
• Takahiro Miyashita. Founder of Number (N)ine, whose archive collections of the 2000s are highly sought after.
• Chitose Abe. Founder of Sacai, known for hybrid garments that combine two pieces in one.
• Hiroshi Fujiwara. The figure behind fragment design and countless collaborations.
• Nigo. Founder of A Bathing Ape and later Human Made, and a central figure in Harajuku street culture.

Bags and leather

Yoshida and Co., maker of Porter bags, has made bags in Tokyo since the 1930s and works with designers across the world. Its collaborations are collected in their own right.

Collector notes

• Labels changed over the decades, and label styles are a useful guide to dating a garment.
• Japanese sizes run smaller than European sizes, so measurements are the safest guide.
• Archive pieces from celebrated seasons command a premium, and the season is often recorded on an inside tag.

Related references

• Japanese Shoe Sizes
• Directory of Japanese Denim Brands
• Nigo and Human Made
• Japanese sneaker exclusives