Tsumori Chisato was born in Saitama Prefecture in 1954. After graduating from the Nippon Bunka Fashion College in 1976, she joined ISSEY MIYAKE the following year to become a designer for Issey Sports, a sports and leisure branch. Issey Sports items such as the IS baseball jacket, which are popular among Archive enthusiasts, are from Tsumori. Subsequently, Issey Sports changed its name to IS Chisato Tsumori Design, and Chisato Tsumori became the chief designer.
In 1990, also with the help of Issei Miyake, Chisato Tsumori founded her personal brand TSUMORI CHISATO. Just like the designer’s own personality, the soft fabric that inherits ISSEY MIYAKE’s vertical cut, complemented by a naive and romantic childlike pattern, is a characteristic of TSUMORI CHISATO’s brand. Also, most of the prints are hand-drawn by designers, inspired by Japanese culture, comics, contemporary art, etc. In 2003, Chisato Tsumori brought the show to Paris and launched a menswear line at the same time. Combining a Japanese-style core with bohemian elements, TSUMORI CHISATO’s popularity rose rapidly. During the brand’s heyday, it had more than 60 specialty stores around the world.
Kosuke Tsumura FINAL HOME
1982, same Saitama Prefecture Kosuke Tsumura (Kosuke Tsumura), who is only 23 years old, won the “Soen Garden Award” (organized by the veteran Japanese fashion magazine “Soen” to encourage up-and-coming fashion designers), while Issei Miyake, another former “Soen Award” winner, sent him a job offer. Kosuke Tsumura worked as Issei Miyake’s assistant for many years during his time at ISSEY MIYAKE, and was the 7th chief designer for its sub-brand Flowery (Flower & Wood World).
At the time, a series of sci-fi movies depicting post-apocalyptic scenes such as “Akira” came out, causing Kosuke Tsumura to think about humanity’s “last home” in a harsh living environment — clothes becoming wearable shelters. In 1994, Kosuke Tsumura’s capsule series on this theme for the MoMA Museum of Modern Art in New York was a huge success. One of the most famous works is a life jacket with 44 pockets. In addition to storing food, medicine, and tools, you can also stuff your pockets with down cushions to keep you warm, or float on the water with air cushions. In the same year, with the support of Issei Miyake, Kosuke Tsumura’s personal brand, FINAL HOME, came into being, and this survival jacket, later named “HOME1,” was also permanently collected by MoMA.
As the
name suggests, FINAL HOME means “last home” in a disaster, and the same goes for combining the nuclear radiation logo with the logo of the house building. The brand also encouraged consumers to return discarded FINAL HOME products to retail stores in cards attached to the clothing, and the brand would donate them to refugees after recycling. Kosuke Tsumura later parted ways with ISSEY MIYAKE, and the brand ceased operations, and Kosuke Tsumura’s life focus also shifted to artistic creation and education. Currently, he is teaching in the Department of Space Design at Musashino Art University.
Kuwabara Naoshi SUNAOKUWAHARA
Sunao Kuwabara (Kuwahara) was born in Hiroshima in 1960. Since graduating from Vantan Design Institute in 1979, he has spent 10 years as a corporate designer and freelance designer. Joined ISSEY MIYAKE in 1989 and became the chief designer of the sub-brand IS (formerly Issey Sports) in 1994, and the brand was renamed IS Sunao Kuwahara accordingly.
By 2003, Naoshi Kuwabara founded his personal brand, sunaokuwahara, using the A-net platform. This Miyake has been from his hometown all his life, and his ideas are very close to Miyake. His designs are often simple in tailoring, comfortable and elegant to wear, and embody a Zen flavor in simplicity. That was until 2015, when Naoshi Kuwabara officially left ISSEY MIYAKE, founded his new company, SUNAOKUWAHARA DESIGNS, and launched his 2016 spring/summer debut under the SUNAOKUWAHARA brand name to continue his fashion career.
Utsugi mercibeaucoup, /eriutsugi
