Yuima Nakazato (born 29 September 1985 in Tokyo) is a Japanese

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

er and an eponymous fashion brand. As of 2023, he is the only guest member of Haute Couture Week from Japan.

Early life and education

Yuima Nakazato was born in Tokyo to a family of a sculptor and a jewelry designer. He began making clothes as a self-taught designer from his high school days before graduating from the Antwerp Royal Academy with a degree in fashion design in 2008. At the time, he was the youngest Japanese graduate from the program. While at Antwerp, Nakazato instructors included

Linda Loppa Linda Loppa is a Belgian fashion designer and fashion consultant. For nine years, she served as the director of Polimoda in Florence, Italy and is now its strategy and vision advisor. Loppa is known for her role in the development of fashion in ...

, Dries van Noten and

Walter Van Beirendonck Walter Van Beirendonck (born 4 February 1957) is a Belgian fashion designer. He was the head of the fashion department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp until 2022. Education He graduated in 1980 from the Royal Arts Academy in Ant ...

. His graduation piece was awarded an Innovation Award from a designer

Ann Demeulemeester Ann Verhelst (born 29 December 1959), known professionally as Ann Demeulemeester (), is a Belgian fashion designer whose label, Ann Demeulemeester, is mainly showcased at the annual Paris Fashion Week. She is known as one of the Antwerp Six in ...

for incorporated ideas from

origami ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a ...

, where the dress changes into a three-dimensional sculptural piece when opened. Shoes that he designed as a student are preserved in

ModeMuseum Antwerpen MoMu (Mode Museum) is the fashion museum of the City of Antwerp, Belgium. Founded on 21 September 2002, the museum collects, conserves, studies and exhibits Belgian fashion. The museum is specifically focusing on Belgian contemporary fashion d ...

Career

In 2009, Nakazato launched his eponymous label after becoming the only finalist in the history of ITS to be selected for two different competitions in different editions. That year, he presented his first collection at showroom in Antwerp together with other graduates from the Antwerp Academy including

Demna Gvasalia Demna Gvasalia ( ka, დემნა გვასალია ; born 25 March 1981), known mononymously as Demna ( ) is a Georgian people, Georgian fashion designer, previously the creative director of Balenciaga and the co-founder of Vetements. ...

. Nakazato designed a costume for Fergie which she wore while performing in a world tour with the

Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

in 2010. In October 2010, he presented his first runway collection at

Yoyogi National Gymnasium Yoyogi National Gymnasium, officially is an indoor arena located at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, which is famous for its Suspended structure, suspension roof design. The arena holds 13,291 people (9,079 stand seats, 4,124 arena sea ...

in Tokyo. He went on to collaborate with Matthew Stone to create ''The Body Beyondo'', a limited edition

art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind ob ...

, which presented his 2012 S/S collection in 2011. In 2016, Nakazato was invited by the

Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode The (; 'Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion') is the governing body for the French fashion industry. It has a dual mission: as a professional organisation in the classic sense of the term, as in other sectors of the economy. As such, it prov ...

to present his collection at the Haute Couture Week in Paris. This made him the second official guest member from Japan, following 12 years after

Hanae Mori was a Japanese fashion designer. She was one of only two Japanese women to have presented her collections on the runways of Paris and New York, and the first Asian woman to be admitted as an official ''haute couture'' design house by the Féd� ...

's inclusion. The brand since then continues to present

couture Couture may refer to: People * Couture (surname) Places Belgium * Couture-Saint-Germain, a village in the municipality of Lasne, Belgium Canada * Couture crater and Lac Couture, an impact crater and the lake that covers it in Quebec, Canada ...

collections biannually as part of Haute Couture Week in Paris as of 2023. In 2018, 21 21 Design Sight, a museum in Tokyo founded by

Issey Miyake was a Japanese fashion designer. He was known for his technology-driven clothing designs, exhibitions and fragrances, such as '' L'eau d'Issey'', which became his best-known product. Early life and education Miyake was born on 22 April 1938 i ...

mounted Nakazato’s first exhibition ‘HARMONIZE’ devoted to reintroduce his couture works to Japanese audience and was visited by Issey Miyake. Nakazato collaborated with Japan's Ministry of the Environment in 2021 to introduce an educational program on

social responsibility Social responsibility is an ethical concept in which a person works and cooperates with other people and organizations for the benefit of the community. An organization can demonstrate social responsibility in several ways, for instance, by do ...

and

environmental issues Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans (human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recov ...

in fashion design. The program's jury included

Kazuyo Sejima is a Japanese architect and director of her own firm, Kazuyo Sejima & Associates. In 1995, she co-founded the firm SANAA (Sejima + Nishizawa & Associates). In 2010, Sejima was the second woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, which was awarde ...

and

Ai Tominaga is a Japanese model and actress. She has been described as one of the first Asian models to walk European catwalks, but there were models such as Sayoko Yamaguchi who walked the runways in the 1970s and 1980s. Career She has appeared on the ...

among others. Since 2022, Nakazato began collaborating with choreographers and theatre directors to design

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress and/or makeup of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch—in short, culture. The term also was traditionally used to describe typica ...

s for

Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s and

Ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

productions in both US and Europe. In 2022 Nakazato designed costume for Belgian choreographer

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (born 10 March 1976) is a Belgian dancer and choreographer and director. He has made over 50 choreographic pieces and received two Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, three Ballet Tanz awards for best cho ...

’s artistic directorial debut at Geneva Grand Theatre, immediately followed by his second collaboration with Cherkaoui for Hanjo, an opera produced by

Bavarian State Opera The Bavarian State Opera () is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under El ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. In 2023, Nakazato designed costume for

Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. ...

’s new production La Mer, created by a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

choreographer Nanine Linning In 2024, Nakazato designed costume for Geneva Grand Theatre's new production

Idomeneo (Italian for ''Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', Köchel catalogue, K. 366) is an Italian-language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Vares ...

directed by Cherkaoui, making it his first costume design for the full opera production.

Style

Yuima Nakazato’s work is at the intersection of innovation, tradition and cutting-edge technology. The designer develops sustainable fashion, inspired by the creativity of haute couture and traditional Japanese techniques. His poetic vision of clothing is driven by a desire to render bespoke creations more accessible. Since his first collection, Nakazato has been creating pieces of clothes that are progressive, sustainable and able to create a unique emotional bond with the people who wear them. To achieve this, he develops techniques that he creates himself or uses from Eastern and Western craftsmanships. His inspiration, mainly drawn by nature recall the contribution of Asian thought through his work. The environmental impact of the fashion industry is one of Yuima Nakazato’s biggest concerns. His couture is a laboratory for a more responsible fashion, incorporating upcycling materials and waste that are not recycled by the industry. Alongside specialists, researchers and industrialists, he pushes back technological boundaries to develop innovative textiles and manufacturing processes, such as 3-D printing, creating textile fibres using fermented bacteria and implementing novel techniques.

Legacy

In 2018 KCI (Kyoto Costume Institution) acquired one of looks from his first couture collection ‘Unknown’ as the museum’s permanent collection. In 2020 MoMu praised ‘the Face to Face’ project, a charity project the brand presented as alternative to regular couture collection at Haute Couture Week during the pandemic, and purchased its custom made look as permanent collection. In 2022

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (''Museum of Art and Design Hamburg'') is a museum of fine, applied and decorative arts in Hamburg, Germany. It is located centrally, near the Hauptbahnhof. History The museum was founded in 1874, fol ...

acquired one of bio-smocking looks from brand’s EVOKE couture collection as museums permanent collection. In 2024 Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode presented brand's first monographic exhibition, also making it the first exhibition for the museum to feature a Japanese fashion brand. Nakazato is the fourth Japanese fashion designer to have a retrospective held at a public art museum in France, following

Yohji Yamamoto is a Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. Considered a master tailor alongside those such as Madeleine Vionnet, he is known for his avant-garde tailoring featuring Japanese design aesthetics. Yamamoto has won notable awards fo ...

and

, being the youngest among them.

Couture Collections

2016: UNKNOWN – autumn-winter 2016-2017 6 July, Palais de Tokyo 2017: IGNIS, AER, AQUA, TERRA – spring-summer 2017 23 January, Maison des métallos FREEDOM – autumn-winter 2017-2018 5 July, House of Culture of Japan in Paris 2018: HARMONIZE – spring-summer 2018 22 January, Eléphant Paname 2019: LIFE – spring-summer 2019, 26 January, Hôtel National des Arts et Métiers BIRTH – autumn-winter 2019-2020 30 July, École de Médecine Paris Descartes 2020: COSMOS – spring-summer 2020 23 January, Théâtre National de Chaillot FACE TO FACE – autumn-winter 2020-2021 Alternative project 2021: ATLAS – spring-summer 2021 Digital presentation EVOKE – autumn-winter 2021-2022 Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama, Japan and digital presentation 2022: LIMINAL – spring-summer 2022 27 January, Oratoire du Louvre BLUE – autumn-winter 2022-2023 7 july, Palais de Tokyo 2023: INHERIT – spring-summer 2023 25 January, Palais de Tokyo MAGMA – autumn-winter 2023-2024 5 July, Palais de Tokyo 2024: UTAKATA – spring-summer 2024, 24 January, Palais de Tokyo UNVEIL – autumn-winter 2024-2025 26 June, Palais de Tokyo 2025: FADE – spring-summer 2025, 29 January, The 55 Haussmann

Exhibitions

2013: FFI Showroom, Paris 2013: Wonderingmode and Dreams of Reason at Centre of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu (CoCA) in Torun 2018: HARMONIZE at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, Tokyo 2018: Japon Japonismes. Objets inspirés, 1867-2018 at Le musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris 2018: STATE OF FASHION 2018 SEARCHING FOR THE NEW LUXURY,

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

2019: Future and the Arts: AI, Robotics, Cities, Life - How Humanity Will Live Tomorrow at Mori Museum, Tokyo 2019: THE GINZA YUIMA NAKAZATO Exhibition and Store at THE GINZA SPACE, Tokyo 2020: Dress Code:Are You Playing Fashion? At The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto and Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo 2020: Making Fashion Sense at HeK - House of Electronic Arts, Basel,

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

2020: A BIOLOGICAL FUTURE FOR FASHION BY BIOFABRICATION, AS PART OF ‘OUR TIME ON EARTH’ at

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

2021: Fashion in Japan 1945-2020 at National Art Center Tokyo, Tokyo 2022: Cloud Walkers at Leeum museum,

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

2023: FASHION FICTIONS at

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Fr ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. 2024: YUIMA NAKAZATO BEYOND COUTURE at Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode,

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

. 2025: YUIMA NAKAZATO Exhibition in Tokyo at Tokyo City View

Awards

* VERTICE AWARD, INTERNATIONAL TALENT SUPPORT #7 FASHION, 2008 * YKK AWARD, INTERNATIONAL TALENT SUPPORT #8 ACCESSORY, 2009 * Mercedes Benz Presents Designer, Japan Fashion Week, 2012 *

SHISEIDO is a Japanese multinational cosmetic company founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1872. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, and fragrances. The company is one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world an ...

AWARD FOR THE BEST NEW DESIGNER OF THE YEAR, MAINICHI FASHION GRAND PRIX, 2017 *

WIRED Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

INNOVATION AWARD, 2018

Publications

* 『Matthew Stone: THE BODY BEYOND Yuima Nakazato Presents』（JUNSUKE YAMASAKI, 2011) * 『YUIMA NAKAZATO Behind the Design』(Bookend, 2022) * 『YUIMA NAKAZATO BEYOND COUTURE』(LIENART, 2024)

References

External links

YUIMA NAKAZATO
- official website * YUIMA NAKAZATO
@yuimanakazato
- Instagram * YUIMA NAKAZATO
@yuima_nakazato
- Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakazato, Yuima Japanese fashion designers Living people 1985 births