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Mikio Sakabe: I wanted to do something that reflects something current. Obviously, most new movements come from subculture, not from high fashion, and Akihabara has been important in Japan for a long time now.Most people in Japan see Akihabara culture as something that’s totally unfashionable in general—why base a collection on that scene?
The older generations do think that Akihabara is just about the otaku. However, go into the fashion schools and people don’t draw any boundaries between high fashion, street fashion, the gyaru Mecca that is Tokyo’s 109 department store, manga, anime, or cosplay. Everything is allowed.What is it about the otaku that fuels your obsession with them?
The dynamic at the Akihabara idol concerts between the otaku and their idols is very pure. During the concerts the otaku and their idols become as one soul—they get closer than any audience and band I’ve ever seen at any punk rock concert. And on a fashion level, even though they have such a strong look, the otaku aren’t really thinking about fashion or trends. It’s a special world.
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Yeah, cosplay is such an interesting thing. Traditionally western fashion has always been concerned with making yourself look better, whatever that means, but on the other hand cosplay is for people who want to transform themselves.Would you say you are making fashion or costume?
I’m trying to make fashion that’s freer, more enjoyable, and more open, but we are making real fashion. We sell a lot of t-shirts and sweaters.

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Yuima Nakazato: Even as a very little kid I was always making things and by the time I was in high school I was customizing second-hand womenswear to wear myself and even organizing fashion shows at school. An aspiring architect friend did the lighting and special effects, a wannabe hair stylist did the hair and make-up, a friend in art class did the body painting, and I played the music.

My parents were artists and my father always had a lot of very dangerous heavy machinery around in order to cut the metal he built his sculptures with. Unsurprisingly, you can definitely see the hours I put in shaving, cutting, and polishing metal in the work I do now. I just try to never miss an opportunity to be as imaginative as possible. I remember seeing the samurai armor at the National Museum in Tokyo and being fascinated by the way harder materials were combined with softer materials to make something super-tough but also flexible. That still inspires a lot of the functionality in my own clothing designs.You once said you spent your college years learning to peel away your design fears—what fears?
I was constantly designing these huge silhouettes because I was unaware that I had a fear of the human body. I also used to fear color, which resulted in a lot of very monotone looks.
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Even as a kid I didn’t want to be the typical macho guy that most men have an image of in their head. I just design from the point of view of never wanting to gender-limit myself. If you look back at mystic Japanese culture there are lots of examples of transcending gender in a very modern way. I think ideally you should be completely free to choose and build your gender however you see fit.

Yoshikazu Yamagata: Definitely, and not just because it’s a fun thing to do, but because my fashion skills are the only thing people have ever praised me for. Really, there was no other choice.How do you alight on rubbish, god, and freemasonry as collection themes?
You know, I don’t really think of that stuff as crazy, I think my design sensibility deals with stuff that’s quite normal. Maybe it’s normal, but an exaggerated normal, or normal’s extremes. If I’m thinking about fashion, I just naturally think about garbage or god or whatever. Or my ideas come from personal experience—I’ll often work my memories and dreams into my creations. For example, I wrote a story called “I Am 0 Points” for my fourth collection. I used to constantly score a 0 for most exams when I was a student in Japan, so I based a collection on a character drawn from that time.
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People are always telling me fashion is business, but every single thing is a business in this world—commerce is a part of every field, not just fashion. Fashion is a very natural part of humanity, but people make too much of the connection to business and money, which is something I’m not sure about. My aim is always to elevate the level of creativity in fashion, unfortunately that takes a lot of effort and a strong spirit.Is money wrecking fashion?
I love money and actually want more of it. We can’t live without it. My new collection is called “0 Written” and is focused on fashion and money. I wanted to honor the history of fashion and money. In the past, there was always a strong link between cloth and money.What did you learn from your time assisting John Galliano?
Fashion is life and death, it has infinite appeal and power, but it is dangerous. Being creative can make people depressed and crazy. Geniuses like John Galliano and Lee McQueen broke apart which is sad. I was always moved by what they did, but with that very rare level of 100 percent self-sacrifice, you could always see the possibility of mental destruction at the same time. Personally, I’ve never had the courage to reach that level.What do you teach at your fashion school, Coconogacco?
Previously I’d been asked to teach at many schools, but in Japan, fashion education is really conservative and based on making clothes, so I decided to create a place where people can connect to fashion in various ways. I teach students to be themselves and in their own way make something relevant to now. Because creating fashion means creating a new human viewpoint, we educate them in fashion, but not focused solely on making clothes.Wouldn’t it be nice to just make some simple, wearable clothes?
I really want to in time, but there’s so much more I want to say right now.